Guard sentenced for molestation

Dubai: A security guard has been jailed for one year after a court convicted him of molesting a Filipina journalist and her friend in public, although he claimed he was sick.

The Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the 35-year-old Nepalese security guard of groping the private parts of the 28-year-old journalist and touching her compatriot friend in the back.

Deported

Presiding Judge Al Saeed Mohammad Barghout, who pronounced yesterday's judgment, said the accused, K.R., will be deported after the completion of his imprisonment.

"I was returning from hospital and I did not realise what I had done on that day. I suffered a mental condition and I don't know what happened. I was told that they took me in an ambulance," argued the accused when he pleaded not guilty in court.

According to the charge sheet, prosecutors charged K.R. with molesting the 28-year-old Filipina. He was also charged with touching the back of her 27-year-old friend who walked alongside the journalist in Salahuddine Road.

"I met my friend in the street… at first I thought the suspect accompanied her because he stood behind her. She said she didn't know him. When we moved away, he walked behind her and molested her… he continued chasing us before he surprisingly embraced me from the back. I cried for help and tried to push him away and defend myself," testified the 28-year-old girl. "He didn't let go off me and pulled my hair… nobody from the people around intervened to stop him or save me until a guardsman did. The incident lasted around ten minutes," she claimed.

The 29-year-old Egyptian guardsman, who rescued the journalist, testified that he heard the victim's cry for help around 8pm.

Strong grip

"When no one rushed to help the girls… I ran towards the other girl who told me that the defendant was trying to rape her friend.

"I pushed him away and freed the 28-year-old from his strong grip," claimed the guardsman.

Police were informed and the defendant was arrested.

The primary verdict is still subject to appeal within 15 days.