Dubai: A salesman has been accused of molesting a 13-year-old teenager inside a fitting room.
The 30-year-old Bangladeshi salesman, M.M., was said to have groped the Emirati teenager while she was trying on a number of abayas at a tailoring shop in September.
The suspect failed to show up before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Wednesday and enter his plea.
Records said the girl’s brother-in-law, who is a policeman, reported the matter to the police after his wife [the girl’s sister] claimed to him that the 13-year-old had been molested
The girl’s sister testified to prosecutors that the incident happened when she and her sister went to the tailoring shop to purchase abayas.
“We walked into the shop at 9pm in Mirdif. I picked up a number of abayas that I wanted to heck if they were suitable. My sister stood beside the suspect. She had kept her abaya on, so I did not enter the changing room and stayed outside. When I turned to look at my sister, I spotted the suspect putting his hand on my sister. I shouted at him. When I asked him why he touched my sister, he claimed that he was adjusting the abaya. We walked out of the shop and I immediately informed my husband about what happened… the police came 20 minutes later,” claimed the sister.
The teenager testified to prosecutors that the suspect groped her while she was trying on the new abaya over her old abaya.
“He intentionally put his hand on me. When my sister saw him, she screamed. He quickly took his hand away and walked towards the counter,” claimed the girl.
Presiding judge Ali Attiyah Sa’ad adjourned the case until the suspect is legally notified about the upcoming hearing on December 14.
