Dubai A manager has been jailed for three months for luring a woman to his office for a phoney job interview and molesting her repeatedly.
The 22-year-old Filipina jobseeker called up the 40-year-old Pakistani manager for a job she saw advertised online.
The manager offered to pick her up from a metro station for what he claimed to be a familiarisation visit and job interview at his office in June.
Even in the car the defendant started invading her private space by touching her arms twice.
Once they entered the office at Business Bay, the 40-year-old manager instantly grabbed the Filipina and hugged her. Then he repeatedly groped her, but she was too scared to shout at him.
The Filipina played it safe and asked the man to stop so she could go to the bathroom. She then ran out of the office and sent a message to her brother on WhatsApp.
The Filipina and her brother called the police who apprehended the defendant shortly after.
On Wednesday, the Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the accused of molesting the woman.
Presiding judge Fahd Al Shamsi said the accused, who had pleaded innocent, would be deported after serving his punishment.
The 22-year-old testified that she called the accused once she found his contact details posted in an online job advertisement.
“He called me at around 11am and said he wanted to interview you me for the job. I met him and he picked me up from the station. When we entered the office, he instantly groped me … he touched my waist and my posterior. He also asked me if I was married or had a boyfriend … he hugged me and groped me. I was too scared to react … then I asked him for the bathroom and ran away,” she told the prosecutors.
The primary ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days.
