Dubai: A worker, who pinched a 13-year-old schoolgirl on her cheeks and neck, and then kissed her in a lift, lost his appeal and will be jailed for three months.
The Jordanian girl had finished school and returned home when the 28-year-old Bangladeshi worker walked into the lift of the building where she lives in January.
The girl pressed the button for the 13th floor, while the worker pressed for the 12th floor of the building in Bur Dubai.
However, instead of getting off on the 12th floor, the defendant instead pressed on the 15th floor.
Then he pinched the girl’s cheeks and neck and then kissed her before she pushed him away and ran when the elevator reached the 13th floor.
The girl told her mother what had happened and they reported the matter to the police.
In March, the Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the defendant of groping the minor and jailed him for three months.
The defendant appealed the primary ruling at the Appeal Court and sought to be acquitted.
Prosecutors also appealed the punishment and asked the court to stiffen the punishment.
Presiding judge Saeed Salem Bin Sarm rejected the appeals and upheld the three-month jail term.
The accused, who pleaded not guilty, will be deported.
The schoolgirl testified that the accused molested her in the lift shortly after she had returned home from school.
“We met inside the lift. When the door opened on the 12th floor that he had pressed, the defendant told me sorry and pressed the button of the 15th floor. Once he moved his hand away from the push button board, the defendant pinched my cheeks and neck gently. Then he caressed my hair and kissed me. I pushed him away and he instantly looked down at the floor … I told my mother what had happened and she called my father, who called the police,” the girl said.
