Dubai: An engineer has been accused of repeatedly groping a teenage visitor inside a mall’s elevator while she was holidaying with her family in Dubai.

The 36-year-old Egyptian engineer, H.S., was said to have molested the 14-year-old Saudi girl, who was escorting her two younger sisters to the Ice Rink at Dubai Mall in July.

The suspect entered a not guilty plea and firmly refuted the molestation charge when he defended himself before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Thursday.

According to the charge sheet, prosecutors said the defendant exploited the fact that he was alone with the Saudi girl and her sisters when he groped her twice.

“That did not happen at all,” H.S. was heard telling presiding judge Ezzat Abdul Lat in courtroom three.

His lawyer asked the court to hear the statements of prosecution witnesses and the teenager at the next hearing.

The Saudi testified to prosecutors that the incident happened inside the lift while she was with her five-year-old and two-year-old sisters.

“As soon as the elevator’s sliding door closed, he came from the back and touched me. I yelled at him and moved away. Once he heard me telling my sisters that we would step out of the lift at the third floor, he walked out ahead of us… immediately I decided to stay in the lift. Then he turned back i and walked back into the lift. He prevented us from walking out… when the door closed, he touched me a second time. I shouted at him angrily… when he realised that I was confused and scared, he stepped out. Then he looked back at me and smiled. He also stood in front of the floor number pad pad to prevent me from pressing the open button,” the girl claimed.

Meanwhile her father testified to prosecutors that his daughter sent a text message to her mother informing her about what had happened.

“We informed the mall’s security immediately. Meanwhile my wife reported the matter to the police,” he claimed.

A police lieutenant, who questioned the suspect, testified to prosecutors that the defendant admitted that he had molested the girl twice.

A policeman claimed to prosecutors that the engineer was tracked through the surveillance cameras.

“We identified him from his car number plate. He arrived at the police office at the mall after we called him in two hours. Then he was referred to the police station where he was taken into custody,” claimed the policeman.

Records said H.S. was spotted on surveillance cameras running out from the lift.

The trial continues.