Man to be jailed for groping woman on Dubai Metro while drunk

The court ordered his deportation after the completion of his jail term.

A man has been sentenced to three months in jail by a Dubai court for molesting a woman inside Metro train coach.
According to court documents, the 38-year-old Indian man was drunk when he touched the woman's waist and groped her on February 14 this year.
The defendant, a salesman, denied charges of sexual harassment and consuming alcohol without a licence at the Court of First Instance. He claimed he touched her by mistake. But the court found him guilty of the molestation charge and referred him to the Court of Misdemeanors on the other charge. 
The court ordered his deportation after the completion of his jail term.
The complainant, a 27-year-old Indian resident, said the incident took place around 10:15pm. "I had boarded the Metro train at a station on the Sheikh Zayed Road. There was a man sitting next to me.
"He looked drunk.  He caught me off guard when he slipped his right hand between my shirt and purse, which I was holding."
She told the prosecutor the man groped her and touched her waist. "I grabbed his hand and yelled at him. He begged me not to expose him or report him to the police.
"However, I called the police because I felt too scared. He tried to flee the place twice but the police officers arrived very fast and caught him," she said.
A police corporal said he was on duty at the Metro station when the incident was reported. "I listened to the woman's account of what happened. We apprehended the defendant and he told her in front of me that he was sorry."
The accused confessed to the police he groped the woman and that he made a mistake, but during the public prosecution investigation, he claimed he touched her thigh unintentionally.
The salesman can appeal the court ruling within 15 days.
mary@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai