Dubai: A worker was jailed for three months for chasing a schoolgirl and blocking her way in the corridor of the building where she lives and touching her.
The teenaged Indian girl had entered the building when the 25-year-old Pakistani worker walked in behind her in June.
Then he blocked the girl’s way and offered to give her sweets or money if she accompanied him to the laundry where he worked.
When the schoolgirl refused to go with him, he continued walking behind her, blocked her way and stopped her from entering the lift before he groped her.
The Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the defendant of groping the girl although he had pleaded not guilty.
The accused told the court that he just stopped the girl and said “Hi” and “Hello”.
According to the primary ruling, the defendant will be deported following the completion of his jail term.
The 25-year-old defendant abused the fact that the girl was alone in the corridor when he groped her, said records.
When asked by the presiding judge if he knew the girl, the defendant replied: “I did not do anything wrong … I just told her hello and shook hands with her. I did not intend to grope her.”
The girl said that the accused followed her in the building in Al Karama.
“When I saw him following me at the entrance of the building, I went to the parking side to use the back door of the building to go home. He followed me there and prevented me from using the stairs or taking the lift to reach my apartment. He offered to give me money or sweets if I accompanied him to the laundry where he worked. A few days later, he followed me again, blocked my way, said ‘Hi’ to me, and asked me to accompany him to the laundry. On my refusal, he touched my arm and ran away. I told my parents about the incident,” the girl testified.
Records said the girl’s father called the police after he checked the CCTV cameras that showed the defendant walking behind his daughter, who was trying to walk away from him.
The ruling is final.
