Dubai: The Dubai Court of Appeal has upheld the conviction of a taxi driver who assaulted an Egyptian man at a bus stop by kicking him in the groin, leading to a 20 per cent disability and loss of a part of his right testicle.

The Pakistani defendant, 26, was charged with physical assault and threatening the victim if he alerted the police. Dubai Court of First Instance had sentenced him to one year in prison to be followed by deportation.

On February 7 last year, the Egyptian man, 23, was at a bus stop in Al Refa’a area waiting for his friend, when a man approached him and asked him for directions to Al Ain.

When the Egyptian advised him to take a bus from the bus stand, the defendant allegedly came up to him, grabbed his arm and accused him of denying him a potential customer in the illegal taxi he was running.

“He told me that I ruined his job by guiding the customer to the bus station, and that he was willing to take him to Al Ain by car. I told him that the other man had asked me how to get to Al Ain and I had just directed him to the bus stand. I freed my arm from his grip, but he kicked me in the groin,” the victim said in his statement. He said he was under acute pain when the defendant threatened to harm him if he informed the police.

“I called an ambulance to take me to hospital as I couldn’t move. At the hospital, a portion of my right testicle was removed.”