Dubai: A salesman, who groped a woman at a textiles shop, has been jailed for three months.
The Frenchwoman had gone to a textiles shop in Naif area in February, when the 22-year-old Afghan salesman grabbed her arm and groped her bottom.
The shocked woman rushed out of the shop and informed the police about the incident, who apprehended the salesperson.
On Thursday, the Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the defendant of groping the woman.
The defendant, who pleaded not guilty, will be deported after serving his punishment.
The defendant’s lawyer argued in court that his client did not intend to grope the woman.
“The woman asked him to show her an item. When he climbed on a chair to get the item … he slipped and fell down as the chair was broken. He mistakenly and unintentionally touched the woman when he tried to balance himself,” argued the lawyer.
The Frenchwoman said she scolded the accused and pushed him away when he groped her.
“I got out of the store and called the police. He groped me strongly,” she told prosecutors.
A police captain said that the defendant told him during the questioning that he apologised to the woman for touching her mistakenly.
The primary ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days.
