'Drunk' cleaner accused of attacking woman in park before stealing phone

Dubai: A cleaner has been accused of getting drunk and knocking a woman to the ground before stealing her mobile phone while she was in a public park.

The 21-year-old Pakistani cleaner, T.Q., was said to have attacked the woman in the park and tried to steal her purse, but she resisted and cried for help.

He hushed her with his hand in December. Then he threw her to the ground and snatched her mobile phone and ran away.

Prosecutors accused T.Q. of getting drunk and robbing the woman using physical violence.

The suspect admitted that he consumed alcohol but denied the robbery charge when he defended himself before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Monday.

“Did you throw the woman down on the ground and take her phone?” presiding judge Ezzat Abdul Lat asked the suspect.

“No, Sir, I did not steal her phone … I only consumed alcohol,” he replied.

An Indian visitor testified to prosecutors that he witnessed the cleaner attacking the woman while he was near the park at 11pm.

“My wife and I were walking when we spotted the man beating the woman, who was shouting at him. At first we thought it was an ordinary fight between a man and his wife … yet when I heard the woman crying for help, I rushed towards her. I pushed the man away and he seemed very drunk. The suspect managed to run away after he took the woman’s mobile phone,” claimed the visitor.

Prosecution records said the defendant was arrested in an area nearby.

A policeman claimed to prosecutors: “Dubai Police’s Operation Room were notified that the incident took place at the Russia Cluster of Dubai International City. The woman claimed to police that the suspect had been walking behind her before he knocked her to the [ground] and stole her mobile. She alleged that when he tried to take away her purse, she fought back. Yet the defendant stole the mobile and absconded. When I called the woman’s mobile number, a police sergeant, who had arrested the suspect in another area, answered. The sergeant told me that the suspect [T.Q.] was detained because he was drunk and acted rowdily.”

A ruling is expected to be heard on March 30.