DUBAI // A bus driver was sentenced to three months in jail for sexually assaulting a woman passenger and threatening to kill her if she told anyone.

At 3.30am on August 11 last year the Filipino victim, 29, finished her late shift in Jumeirah Beach Residence and walked to her company’s bus to get a lift home.

She said that Pakistani Z K, 23, drove everyone else home, leaving her alone in the bus. “He started chatting with me and asked me to sit closer,” said the woman. “He then offered to buy me dinner from KFC or McDonald’s. I said no but he insisted and said that he was celebrating his first salary and wanted me to join him.”

The driver bought the meal before driving to a sandy patch and stopping the bus.

“I told him to take me home but suddenly he started screaming at me and ordering me to sit and eat — then he started closing the bus’s curtains,” the Filipina said.

“I was terrified and he then started talking romantically to me and touched my shoulder.”

The woman told prosecutors how he started shouting and threatening her as he touched her body. “When I yelled at him and resisted, he said he would kill me,” she said.

“He choked me for a few seconds, during which I lost breath while he was on top of me. I had no other choice so I told him I would love to have sex with him but I couldn’t at the moment for health reasons. Then I flirted with him and asked for his number so we can keep in touch. He gave it to me then drove me home.”

The Filipina called the defendant’s boss then went to police.

The defendant denied sexual assault and issuing threats charges when he appeared at Dubai Criminal Court last November. However, he was convicted and will be deported after completing his jail term.

salamir@thenational.ae