Daijiworld Media Network - Dubai (SHP)
Dubai, Dec 17: After an optical shop employee sexually harassed a customer on Monday, the Dubai Court sentenced him to three months in jail.
As per the public prosecution, the accused employee grabbed the woman's arm and kissed her on the cheek. The Dubai Court of First Instance also ordered that the 26-year-old Indian man be deported after completing his jail term.
The complainant, a 31-year-old Filipino real estate officer, said the incident happened when she went to a shopping centre past 10 pm.
"I visited a driving institute office and was instructed to go to a nearby optician's shop to check my eyes and get a report," she recounted during the investigation.
"The defendant, who worked in the shop, took me inside a room. As he checked my sight, he kept asking personal questions like where I stayed, whether I had a boyfriend, if I could go out with him for dinner, and if I could travel with him to his country to get married."
The defendant then asked for her mobile number. "I thought he would write it on the receipt. But he rang me to check if the number was correct," she recalled.
On her way out of the room, he grabbed her left arm, then cornered her. He tried to kiss her but as she was pushing him away, he ended up kissing her on the left cheek.
The woman claimed that she hinted the cashier of the store that she was sexually harassed by the accused by writing it on a piece of paper. However, instead of helping the woman, the cashier tore up the paper the Filipina stated.
She then went back to the driving institute office and informed the employee. "He walked back with me to the optician's shop. We waited for the defendant to return from dinner. The institute's employee told him to apologise in writing to me. The defendant stamped the paper with his shop's seal," she told the prosecutor.
The next day, the woman filed a complained against the man at Al Muraqqabat police station.
The note which was submitted by the man was attached to the case file, it read - 'sorry for harassing and trying to kiss a customer'.
The accused has been detained. He can appeal the ruling within 15 days.