Man on trial for sexually assaulting woman in lift in Dubai

Dubai - The accused denied charges of sexual assault, breaching a woman's modesty in public.

A man allegedly sexually assaulted a woman in a lift and forced her to give him her mobile number, the Court of First Instance heard on Sunday.
The 27-year-old Egyptian man, working as a veterinary, was with his friend at the time but the latter did not mind the defendant's behaviour towards the woman and rather he watched smiling and laughing, and then left the lift, as the complainant told the investigators.
The accused denied charges of sexual assault, breaching a woman's modesty in public and resisting police officers in court.
The 21-year-old complainant, an Iranian, said the defendant talked to her inappropriately and touched and groped her against her will and forced her to give him her number. 
A police corporal said the accused assaulted and pushed him at the police station. "He would not hand over his phone SIM card but rather put it and other small memory cards in his mouth and destroyed them."
Another policeman said the woman lodged a complaint on October 28, 2017. "She said she had just walked out of a flat where she dropped some papers to an acquaintance in a building in Al Muraqqabat and taken the lift when two Egyptian men entered with her."
The policeman added: "She complained that one of them slapped her after she refused to give him her mobile number. He then touched her body inappropriately. He also clicked her photo and asked her how much she was paid and how much she would charge him. He made her call his number so to save hers. After a cleaner walked in the lift, the defendant had to leave at the sixth floor."
The policeman also told the prosecutor: "The defendant was summoned to Al Muraqqabat police station on October 31, 2017. He had two mobile phones. But he took a SIM card out of his phone and would not give it to us. He denied the woman's accusations or having seen or sexually harassed her. He then put a SIM card and a memory card inside his mouth. He fiercely resisted and pushed the CID officers who tried to stop him from destroying the cards. He said he would not let us or anyone else to get to see what was in those memory cards."
The complainant identified the accused among other suspects at the police station.
The court adjourned the trial to January 30.
mary@khaleejtimes.com
 

• Dubai