Woman found not guilty of sexually assaulting and robbing man in lift

DUBAI // A 32-year-old woman has been found not guilty of sexually assaulting a man in a lift and stealing Dh4,500 from his wallet.

At the Dubai Criminal Court SS, an unemployed Jordanian, was accused of touching and kissing Indian M A, 23, in the lift of a building in Bur Dubai before making off with the money.

She denied the sexual assault and theft charges, telling the court she was a “God-fearing Muslim woman”.

The court heard MA was heading to an office on December 17. SS was already in the lift when he entered.

“She was in a face veil and abaya, I got into the lift and the door closed. Then I pressed ‘four’,” said MA.

He said SS asked him how he was before she lifted up her veil and approached him. “She suddenly came closer and hugged me. I pushed her away but she was holding on to me and stuck her body to mine.”

The lift stopped on the fourth floor and MA tried to leave, but SS pulled him back inside.

“She actually managed to pull me back, then she pressed on floor ‘seven’ and, as the door closed, she started touching me intimately on my private parts,” he said.

He pressed floor ‘four’ again but said SS kissed him repeatedly and touched him before he could break free and run out of the lift.

“When I later checked my wallet, which was in my back pocket, I noticed that Dh4,500 was missing and I realised that she had robbed me,” said M A.

MA called police, who arrested S S. He later identified her at a police station.

SS is currently serving a six month jail sentence for sexually assaulting an Iranian man in a lift and stealing his wallet.