Shopowner jailed for molesting saleswoman
DUBAI: A shopowner who harassed his saleswoman after offering to transport her home must see out his three-month prison term, the Appeals Court has upheld.
The 25-year-old Asian businessman stroked the 31-year-old Filipina’s hair then pulled it towards him to buss her neck on May 11. When she resisted and pushed him, he felt her and tried to disrobe her.
At Al Qusais Police Station he confessed before cops then turned towards the saleswoman and started apologising to her. The Criminal Court imprisoned him for three months to be followed by deportation.
He appealed the ruling and requested the Dubai Appeals Court for leniency. However, the Appeals Court’s jury rejected his clemency plea and ordered him to serve the imprisonment and deportation penalty.
In prosecution records, the saleswoman was inside the toys shop at a shopping centre in Dubai at around 6:45pm when the businessman arrived, followed up work progress then asked her to meet him at his car.
She thought he wanted her to help fetch goods from the car. She went to the car inside the parking lot. He talked about the work and said sales were low. They discussed reasons and solutions to the decline.
Thereafter, she requested him to permit her spend the evening at home since it was her son’s birthday. He called her inside the car and claimed he would transport her home while discussing solutions to the sales problem.
She wanted to take the rear seat but he locked the door and asked her to come to the front seat. He told her he would permit her to spend the evening with her son on condition she gave him something in exchange.
He locked all doors and suddenly stroked her hair. She pushed his hand and told him to avoid touching her. She tried and failed to open the door. He held her by the hair and drew closer to kiss but she pushed him away.
He touched her all over. She pushed him and shouted “Don’t touch me!” He pestered, “Just a minute.” He tried to disrobe her.
e kept groping her until she burst into tears. He vowed to ire her if she complained.
An Emirati warrant oficer said, “The defendant upon arrest confessed and requested me to talk to the woman and ask her to forgive him. While at the police station, he begged her to forgive him of all the acts he did to her.”