Molester’s jail sentence reduced

Dubai

A waiter who molested a holidaymaker at a hotel’s nightclub won a reduced punishment on Wednesday.

The Egyptian waiter, M.S., had pulled the inebriated Belarussian tourist once she walked out of the Jumeirah nightclub into a corridor where he molested her and stole her Dh1,500 in September 2014.

In May, the Dubai Court of First Instance jailed M.S. 25 months for molestation and theft.

On Wednesday, the Dubai Appeal Court commuted the defendant’s imprisonment from 25 months to 15 months.

Prosecutors had earlier accused M.S. of raping the woman, molesting her and robbing her.

The primary court dismissed the rape charge.

According to the appellate ruling, presiding judge Saeed Salem Bin Sarm upheld the acquittal of M.S. in the rape case.

The defendant will be deported after serving his sentence.

He was convicted of sexually abusing the woman and stealing her money.

The accused entered an innocent plea.

Records said M.S. abused the fact that the Belarussian was drunk before pushing her to the ground and had sex with her. When she resisted and tried to prevent him from raping her, he molested her. He was also charged with using physical violence to steal her money.

The Belarussian said the defendant attacked her once she left the nightclub at 3am.

“He threw me down to the floor and had sex with me … he did not complete what he had started. He stole my money from my purse and absconded,” she claimed.

A police lieutenant said they were informed about a sex assault incident in a hotel in Jumeirah.

“The Belarussian tourist said the defendant stopped her for unknown reasons. She claimed that when she tried to push him away, he dragged her to a dark corridor where he had sex with her against her will. The defendant was arrested at his residence where we found Dh1,000 in his possession,” claimed the lieutenant.

The woman was tried for consuming liquor.

Wednesday’s ruling remains subject to appeal before the Cassation Court within 30 days.