Water salesman denies molesting flight attendant in the kitchen at her home

A 24-year-old salesman accused of forcing himself on a woman and grabbing her by the waist denied the charges, claiming that the incident was a mistake caused by a lack of space in the woman’s kitchen.

Prosecutors said that on December 17 last year, the Pakistani salesman distributed water to homes in Al Quoz. He was contacted by a 32-year-old air hostess from Costa Rica and asked to provide her with water.

“My husband was away on a business trip so I called him. He arrived about 10am and found the empty bottles outside, then he knocked on the door to deliver the new ones,” she said.

The woman said she asked him to install one of the new bottles in the cooler and, afterwards, he grabbed her by the waist before hugging her and attempting to touch her inappropriately.

“I pushed him away and screamed at him, then asked him to leave at once,” she said. He left but returned about five minutes later with another man, but she refused to open the door and called the police.

A police officer said the man was apprehended and questioned.

“He told us he had been doing this job for two years and had never had a complaint against him by anyone. He said this happened by mistake because the woman’s kitchen was very small,” a police officer said.

The woman told prosecutors that she was some distance from the defendant and there was no way for him to accidentally touch her, as he had claimed.

“My kitchen is not that small and I was standing about three metres away from him. He didn’t touch me accidentally – he pulled me towards him, then touched me,” she said.

In court yesterday, the defendant denied a charge of sexual assault charge. A verdict is due on February 15.