Dubai: A holidaymaker, who denied molesting a policewoman when he patted her shoulder to ask her for directions to Dubai Mall, has been jailed for three months.
The 49-year-old Kazakh tourist, K.B., molested the policewoman by touching her arm and assaulting two policemen at Burj Khalifa Metro station in December.
“That is not true. I did not molest her. I only patted her on her shoulder as I wanted to ask her for directions to Dubai Mall … I had no criminal intention at all,” said the defendant when he entered an innocent plea.
On Sunday, the Dubai Court of First Instance jailed K.B. for three months after he was convicted of molestation.
Presiding judge Mohammad Jamal also fined the defendant Dh2,000 over the assault charge.
The accused will be deported following the completion of his punishment, according to Sunday’s ruling that remains subject to appeal within 15 days.
When asked if he assaulted the two policemen, the defendant said: “I did not assault them.”
Prosecutors said the Kazakh molested the policewoman and assaulted two other policemen when they tried to arrest him.
The 21-year-old policewoman testified that the defendant touched her arm while she was guiding the crowds of commuters at the Metro station.
“Someone touched my shoulder. When I turned back, the defendant asked me for directions to the mall. I guided him and then asked him why he had touched me. I couldn’t understand his language. He touched my hand again. I pulled my hand away, then I asked him to escort me to the police office. He refused. My two colleagues presented their police IDs. He refused to go with them to the police office and, when they tried to take him, he assaulted them,” claimed the policewoman.
The two policemen said the accused pushed them and did not want to be taken to the police office at Dubai Mall.
The suspect was cited telling prosecutors that he patted the policewoman’s shoulder to ask her for directions to the mall as he is a tourist.
