Dubai cabbie accused of molesting teenager as he drove her home

A court heard that a Pakistani taxi driver groped a 17-year-old Brazilian passenger as he drove her home from college.

DUBAI // A Pakistani taxi driver is accused of molesting a 17-year-old passenger as he drove her home.

A A, 31, groped Brazilian G K, before she fled and hid in a supermarket, prosecutors told Dubai Criminal Court.

G K said she hailed A A’s taxi after leaving college in Knowledge Village at 10pm on March 19.

“After I got into the cab and told him to take me to Umm Suqeim where I live, he asked me where I came from and if I had a boyfriend,” she said.

She told prosecutors A A stopped his car near Dubai Police Academy and insisted she sit in front passenger seat.

“I was scared, so I moved to the front seat. Then he continued driving and placed his hand on my left thigh,” she said.

G K placed her bag on her legs and told A A his actions were inappropriate.

She then called her mother and told her she was five minutes away from home.

“After I finished the call, he touched my breast, and pinched me before I pushed his hand away,” she said.

She took a note of the driver’s details then requested he stop at a supermarket.

“When I exited the taxi, A A slapped me on my behind. I stayed inside the supermarket for 10 minutes to make sure he left,” she said.

G K’s mother, B D, 53, told prosecutors her daughter returned home in a distressed state.

“I thought one of our relatives told her that her grandfather died, but she told me what AA did to her in the taxi,” said B D.

The mother then reported the assault to police.

A A denied the charge of molestation at the court on Sunday.

A verdict is expected on June 23.