Egyptian taxi driver jailed for abuse of American passenger

A taxi driver has been jailed for six months after sexually assaulting an American naval officer who was a passenger in his car.

The Egyptian man, 34, placed his hand on the 22-year-old operation specialist’s thigh before forcing her to touch his groin, Dubai’s Court of Appeal heard.

Initially. he was cleared of the charge at Dubai Criminal Court, but was convicted after prosecutors lodged an appeal against the verdict.

The court was told that the driver was taking the victim and two friends from the Mall of the Emirates to their naval base in Jebel Ali on March 5 last year when the incident took place.

“It was almost 9pm when my friends and I left the mall and took a cab to head back to the base in Jebel Ali,” the woman said. “The driver asked me to sit next to him to give him directions.

“He then placed his hand on my thigh. I removed it and he put it back again.”

When they arrived at the main gate of the US base, she said he tried to put his hand under her shirt and then pulled her arm by force and placed it on his groin.

“I removed my arm then told the security guards, who kept hold of him until they called police,” she said.

When police officers arrived, they found a representative from the American embassy who briefed them about the incident.

“When we talked to the accused, he denied everything and said that they were framing him because he asked two of her friends to stop kissing in the taxi,” a police officer testified.

Throughout proceedings, the driver denied the charge of sexual assault.

The Court of Appeal sentenced him to prison, followed by deportation.