Dubai: A woman wearing a niqab has been accused of molesting an employee in a lift where she cornered the man, kissed and groped him before stealing his Dh4,500.
The 23-year-old Indian employee was said to have entered the lift of the building where he works, according to his prosecution statement, when the 32-year-old Jordanian woman pushed him to a corner.
“Once I pressed the button for the fourth floor, the woman lifted her niqab [face cover]. She drew herself towards me, then hugged and kissed me against my will. Then she groped me. I tried to walk out of the elevator, but she grabbed me and pulled me back in. She groped me again and hugged me while I tried to push her away. Then, when the door opened again, I rushed out quickly before I realised that she had stolen Dh4,500 from my wallet,” the employee said in his prosecution statement.
Prosecutors charged the Jordanian woman with hugging and kissing the employee against his will and groping him in December. “That is absolutely untrue. It is all a lie and his claims are unfounded. I did not and would never do such a thing,” argued the defendant when she entered a not guilty plea before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Tuesday.
“Did you do that to the claimant?” the presiding judge asked the defendant.
“Sir, I am a Muslim woman and practise my religious obligations properly. I am a God-fearing individual. It is impossible for me to have committed such an act Besides I want the court to review the CCTV footage and look at fingerprints … I am innocent, I did not do that,” the woman, who wore a pink prison dress, said when she strongly refuted her accusations.
The Indian man testified to prosecutors that the incident happened when he was going to office in Bur Dubai.
“Once I walked into the lift, the woman stood in a corner. She was veiled. I pressed the button for the fourth floor. The woman lifted her face cover and asked me in Arabic ‘how are you?’ Suddenly she threw both her arms around me and hugged me. I couldn’t push her away because her body was pressed to mine. I tried to leave the lift once the door opened on the fourth floor … but she pulled me back in. When the door closed, she pressed the button for the seventh floor. She hugged me again and kissed me against my will before she groped me. I ran out of the lift once it reached the seventh floor. When I checked my wallet, I discovered that she had stolen my money,” the employee claimed to prosecutors.
Records said the claimant identified the defendant at the police line up three times.
The judge adjourned the case to hear the claimant’s statement when the court reconvenes on March 8.
