Dubai: A jobless man, who walked behind a saleswoman into a lift and groped her twice, was handed a three-month suspended imprisonment after the victim pardoned him.
The Filipina saleswoman was walking to her workplace at a mall when she entered the lift and pressed on the first-floor button in April.
As the door opened, a 26-year-old Afghan man walked into the lift and greeted the Filipina and then asked her about herself.
The defendant groped the saleswoman’s top for the first time and then he caressed her top without her consent and rushed out of the lift.
The Filipina called the police who apprehended the Afghan.
On Wednesday, the Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the defendant of groping the Filipina after he pleaded guilty.
Presiding judge Fahd Al Shamsi sentenced the accused to three months in jail but suspended the imprisonment after the victim pardoned the defendant and granted him a written waiver.
According to the primary ruling, the defendant will be deported.
The Filipina said the incident took place while heading to the store where works in the mall on the outskirts of Dubai.
“The defendant walked into the lift on the first floor. He greeted me and asked me how I was doing. Then suddenly he groped my top … and then he caressed it again and walked away quickly. I ran out to the mall’s security guards and told them what happened. Then I called the police,” she testified.
The primary verdict remains subject to appeal within 15 days.
