DUBAI // The two-year prison sentence given to a police officer who kidnapped and molested a flight attendant was upheld by Dubai Court of Appeal on Sunday.
Emirati S M, 28, threatened to arrest Italian F D, 30, for kissing her friend in public, before kidnapping and molesting her in his car near Wafi Mall.
In September 2014, the woman was in a taxi with her Romanian friend R in Al Hudaiba, Bur Dubai, when the cab was stopped by the officer.
The flight attendant said the policeman wanted to fine the driver for stopping in the middle of the street.
“I left the cab and my friend R went on his way. While I walked home, I heard S M telling me to stop,” she said, adding that he showed her his police identification card and asked her to get into his car.
“I refused several times, but he insisted and told me not to be afraid because he was a police officer.
“After 10 minutes of driving he parked and asked me if I was wearing underwear. I told him it’s none of his business and he got mad. He then told me he suspected I was drunk and in possession of drugs and wanted to search me physically.”
She told him she had no problem with being searched, as long as it was by a female officer.
“S M then said he was going to report me for kissing my friend in the taxi. I got afraid and started crying and asked him to take me home,” said F D.
Once they reached her home, the officer asked her to raise her arms before putting his hands inside her shirt and touching her breasts.
The woman was able to identify S M from a police line-up. She also identified the rented Mercedes-Benz he was driving on the day of the incident.
The policeman denied charges of kidnapping, issuing threats and molestation at Dubai Criminal Court last June. However, he was found guilty of all charges and was sentenced to two years in jail.
salamir@thenational.ae
