Dubai: A woman was cleared on Tuesday of molesting an employee in a lift where he claimed she cornered him, kissed and groped him and then stole his Dh4,500.
The 23-year-old Indian employee had alleged that when he entered the lift of the building where he works, the 32-year-old Jordanian woman purportedly pushed him into a corner and groped him.
The Dubai Court of First Instance acquitted the woman over uncorroborated and insufficient evidence.
“I pressed the fourth-floor button when a woman lifted her niqab [face cover]. She drew herself towards me, then hugged and kissed me against my will… she groped me. I tried to walk out of the elevator, but she pulled me back in. She groped me again and hugged me… I rushed out quickly when the door opened. Later I realised that she had stolen Dh4,500 from my wallet,” the employee claimed.
The Jordanian woman refuted the man’s allegations and entered an innocent plea.
“It is all a lie and his claims are unfounded. I did not and would never do such a thing. I am a Muslim woman and practise my religious obligations. I am a God-fearing individual. It is impossible for me to have committed such an act,” the woman contended in court.
The woman was seen with a huge smile on her face and heard reading prayers and thanking God once she heard presiding judge Mohammad Jamal acquitting her in court.
The Indian man claimed to prosecutors that the incident happened when he was going to office in Bur Dubai.
“Once I walked into the lift, the woman stood in a corner. She was veiled. I pressed the button for the fourth floor. The woman lifted her face cover and asked me in Arabic ‘how are you?’ Suddenly she threw both her arms around me and hugged me. I couldn’t push her away because her body was pressed against mine. I tried to leave the lift once the door opened on the fourth floor … but she pulled me back in. When the door closed, she pressed the button for the seventh floor. She hugged me again and kissed me against my will before she groped me. I ran out of the lift once it reached the seventh floor. When I checked my wallet, I discovered that she had stolen my money,” the employee claimed to prosecutors.
However the woman dismissed the man’s claims.
The woman remains in custody as she is currently serving a six-month jail term [in another case] for molesting an Iranian man in an elevator and robbing his Dh10,400 after seducing him in December.
Tuesday’s ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days.
