Saudi Arabia: Doctor gets 5 years in jail for groping nurse

Cairo: A Saudi court sentenced a male doctor to five years in prison after he had been convicted of sexually harassing a female nurse at a hospital, a Saudi newspaper has reported.

The appeals court in Asir in south-western Saudi Arabia handed down the maximum penalty to the Syrian doctor and ruled he is named to be shamed in the media, Okaz added.

The case was based on a complaint filed by the Filipino nurse who worked with the doctor at a private hospital in southern Saudi Arabia to the facility’s management followed by a police report accusing him of touching a private part of her body.

The woman said the doctor later sent her a text message via the cellphone apologising for the act, saying he was kidding.

The claimant attached to her complaint a copy of the message and said he had earlier verbally harassed her and offered her SR1,000 to spend the night accompanying him in his house.

The alleged assailant was later arrested and referred to the court. He admitted to his act, saying he was kidding and denied he had harassed her.

Initially, the court sentenced him to one year in prison and ordered him to pay SR5,000 in fine. Later, the prosecutors challenged the ruling.

In handling the case, the appeals court considered the sentence against the doctor inadequate and increased the jail term to five years.