Dubai: A technician claimed in court on Tuesday that he was only reading the label on the jacket of a gym’s receptionist who accused him of molesting her.
The 26-year-old Pakistani cooling systems technician, P.K., was said to have been called for some maintenance work at the gym when he molested the Filipina receptionist in November.
The defendant entered a guilty plea when he showed up before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Tuesday.
“Why did you touch the claimant’s cheeks and back?” presiding judge Mohammad Jamal asked the suspect in courtroom three.
“I am at fault… I touched her cheek. But I only touched her back when I tried to remove her jacket to read the label and know what brand she wore,” replied the defendant.
The 26-year-old receptionist testified to prosecutors that the cooling system was not working properly at the gym’s fitting room.
“I called the maintenance people… the management sent the suspect and two of his co-workers. The suspect asked me about the location of the control board. His co-workers waited at the reception and I accompanied the defendant to the jacuzzi room where the board was placed. Suddenly he drew his shoulder very close to mine. He gazed at me in a very strange way. I felt scared and stayed two metres away from him. Then he asked my name and quickly came towards me and pulled my jacket… he wanted to read the label. I moved to the back. I was scared and asked him to stay away and not to touch me. While he was talking about the cooling system, he took me by surprise and pressed his palm on my cheek. I scolded him and warned him to stay away. Instead, he came towards me and opened his arms wanting to hug and kiss me. I pushed him away and rushed out of the place. He walked behind me and touched my neck and back three times and smiled at me,” claimed the receptionist.
A policeman testified that the defendant was detained three days after the incident.
A ruling will be heard on February 22.
