Dubai: A bus driver has been jailed for a year after he was convicted of groping a woman and tried to kiss her on board the bus.
The Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the 35-year-old Egyptian, M.M., a driver at the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), of sexually molesting the 32-year-old Filipina woman while he was dropping her at Dubai Investment Park (DIP).
The accused will be deported following the completion of his jail term.
“Not at all. That did not take place. I am innocent,” argued M.M. when he defended himself in court.
During the hearing, the defendant answered the judge when he called his name to pronounce the verdict in courtroom three.
The defendant’s bail was automatically cancelled when he turned himself in to the police wardens present in the dock.
The accused had earlier provided the court with a written defence seeking acquittal.
The woman, J.A., testified that the incident happened when she took an RTA bus around 9am.
“The bus driver dropped a Filipino and I was the last passenger on board. When the bus reached DIP’s main gate, I asked the driver to open the door for me to go down. He told me to give him a kiss if I wanted him to open the door… I tried to open the door myself. He walked towards me and touched my breast and bum. Although I scolded him, but he insisted on kissing him. When I warned him that I would call the police, he opened the door and let me go,” the Filipina told prosecutors.
An Emirati officer at RTA’s unit of investigation and follow-up on cases confirmed that J.A. complained against M.M. She claimed to the officer that the driver asked her to kiss him. When the driver came close to her to kiss her, she ran inside the bus and tried to get out.
Tuesday’s judgment remains subject to appeal within 15 days.
