Dubai: A taxi driver has been cleared of groping a passenger while dropping her in front of her house after midnight.
Citing lack of evidence, the Dubai Court of First Instance acquitted the 27-year-old Pakistani driver, A.M., of exploiting the fact the Filipina was alone with him in the taxi.
The driver had entered a not guilty plea.
“I did not molest her or touch her indecently…” A.M. told the court earlier.
When asked by presiding judge Ezzat Abdul Lat why he had touched her, A.M. said: “I was soothing her and calming her down because she was scared. I just patted her shoulder.”
Prosecution records said when the defendant groped her in March, she jumped out of the taxi and reported the incident to the nearest policeman.
A policeman claimed during questioning the driver was arrested behind a hospital in Al Nahda.
“The woman claimed that the suspect molested her and touched her indecently in his taxi. She alleged that after she stopped the taxi behind one of the malls, the driver molested her once they reached the back of the hospital… then she got out. She was scared when she told me what happened. Meanwhile the suspect was driving around the same spot where he had dropped the Filipina. When I questioned A.M., he confessed that he touched the woman’s top and immediately apologised. He also told the woman that he was sorry… the suspect quivered when I questioned him,” the policeman told prosecutors.
Monday’s ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days.
