Taxi driver in Dubai gets six months in jail for sexually assaulting passenger

Dubai Criminal Court heard the 29-year-old maid had arrived in the country two weeks earlier and was unsure of herself.

DUBAI // A taxi driver was sentenced to six months in prison for sexually assaulting a passenger.

On December 3 last year, Dubai Criminal Court was told, the maid’s sponsor had called a car to drive her to an address in Al Barsha.

The Filipina, 29, had arrived in the country two weeks before and was unsure of her surroundings, the court was told.

“He had me sit in the front and seconds after he drove off, he put up his right arm and touched my shoulder then all the way down to my breasts then thighs,” the Filipina said.

“I tried to push his hand away but he just put it back.”

The driver, 43, then exposed himself and forced her to touch him.

“It was in the middle of the day and with cars all around us but no one was looking so I could ask for help,” the court was told.

The maid said that when they arrived at the destination she saw her “sponsor waiting and I ran towards him and told him what happened but the driver sped off”.

The sponsor took the maid to a police station to report the incident.

“I ordered a ride through Careem and they provided me with the name of the driver and type of car, and after she ran towards me crying and told me what happened, I immediately reported him to police,” the sponsor said.

The driver will be deported after serving his term.