DUBAI // A 34-year-old taxi driver who molested a woman minutes after she arrived in Dubai has been sentenced to six months in jail.
Egyptian S A was convicted of sexual assault and theft.
He picked up his victim from Dubai airport on August 29 shortly after she arrived in the country for the first time.
The South Korean nurse, M S, 25, said she arrived at 4.30am and sat in the front seat of the Egyptian’s car so she could see the city’s landmarks.
“He started chatting with me and telling me I was a beautiful woman, then he asked to hold my hand,” she said.
“I said no but, surprisingly, he held my left hand and kissed it nearly 10 times and each time I would pull it away.”
She then sat at the far edge of the passenger seat, close to the door, but she said this did not stop him from reaching over and touching her thigh and chest.
“I told him to stop, but he said no one will know. I couldn’t scream for help, so I asked for his phone number and told him that I will call him,” said the nurse.
The receptionist at her hotel advised her to contact police, who used the phone number the nurse provided them with to get hold of the driver. “We contacted him and asked him to come to the police station. When he did, he confessed to the molestation charge,” said policeman K A, 39.
The officer said the driver also confessed to charging the woman too high a fare. At Dubai Criminal Court, the driver denied a charge of sexual assault and also theft, for overcharging the woman. However, he was convicted and sentenced to three months in jail for each charge. He was ordered to repay the woman Dh62.
The Egyptian will be deported after serving his jail term.
salamir@thenational.ae
