Dubai: A bus driver has denied molesting a woman on a packed bus — claiming he touched her accidentally because she was so chubby her behind got stuck in a small gap separating him and the other passengers.
The 32-year-old Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) employee was said to have groped the Egyptian woman through a small opening in the plastic partition. The incident happened in May 2013.
The Indian driver, C.B., entered a not guilty plea before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Wednesday.
The Egyptian testified to prosecutors the incident happened when the driver asked her to stand beside his seat.
“The bus was crammed and there were no places to sit … the suspect asked me to stay beside him. I stood beside a plastic stand and suddenly I felt the suspect grope me. Then he touched me again and immediately removed his hand when I stared at him. Then I reported the matter to the police,” she said.
When questioned by prosecutors, the defendant said it would have been “illogical and impossible for him to have intentionally touched” the claimant.
“She is the one who suddenly moved backwards and part of her bottom got stuck in the small opening and hit my hand. It happened by mistake as she moved backwards and her body made contact with the plastic partition. Her claims are irrational and absurd. It would have been impossible for the touching to have happened like she described it,” the suspect was cited as saying.
Records said C.B. provided prosecutors with a photo showing the partition made it impossible for him to have groped the woman.
Presiding judge Maher Salama Al Mahdi adjourned the case until the suspect’s lawyer presents his defence on May 11.
