Manager pulled off employee’s hijab before assaulting her, Dubai court hears

Manager denies the sexual assault charge, telling judges the accusation was malicious because he was terminating the woman’s contract.

DUBAI // The manager of a construction materials company pulled an employee’s hijab off her head before sexually assaulting her, Dubai Criminal Court heard on Wednesday.

Prosecutors said that on October 26 last year, the Indian woman, who worked as an accountant at the company, was at her desk when the manager approached her.

“He came out of his office and walked into mine and I noticed him only when he held my hand,” he woman said. “I pushed his hand away, he then pulled my hijab and kissed me on the face.”

She said that he touched her body and as she tried to push him away from her he kept pulling her back close to his body.

“He tried to do this before, he touched parts of my body whenever no one was around. I used to stop him, this time he wouldn’t stop,” said the woman adding that she didn’t report him before because she needed the job.

The woman added that he often asked her to have sex with her and that he would pay her.

In the last incident, the woman was on the phone with a colleague, who overheard part of her conversation with the defendant, recorded it then told her to go to police.

In court on Sunday, the 49-year-old Indian owner and manager of the company denied the sexual assault charge telling judges the accusation was malicious because he was terminating the woman’s contract. “I was in India to undergo a knee surgery when the other few employees complained to me that they would wait for her, sometimes later than 9.30am, to get to their offices as she had the key to the place,” said the defendant.

He added that following several other complaints, he returned from India and decided to terminate her contract, after which she reported him for allegedly molesting her.

The next hearing will be on June 8.

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