Landlord denies molesting tenant

dubai — A Pakistani man, who was renting out bedspace in a flat, has been charged in the Court of First Instance with sexually harassing a female tenant.

He denied the charge in court and claimed she was maliciously accusing him over overdue rent.

The 30-year-old is accused of kissing the woman’s neck and head, hugging her against her will. The complainant, a 26-yearold Vietnamese, said she met the accused after she rented a bed in his apartment in the England cluster in International City.

At around 1.30am on August 9, she woke up when she felt someone kissing her. “It was the accused who was leaning next to me. He kissed me on the neck and lay by my side, hugging me,” the woman told the prosecutor.

She said she instantly pushed him away and told him to get away from her. But he replied that he loved and missed her.

As she begged him to leave her alone and not cause trouble, he said she would have to go through the complete leasing period before she could vacate her bedspace.

Later in the afternoon she received WhatsApp voice messages from the defendant in which he allegedly called her names.

Her Arab friend advised her to lodge a police complaint against him, and she reported at the Dragon Mart police centre.

At around 1 am, she went with CID officers to the accused’s flat where she picked up all her belongings.

The accused, who was sleeping at the time, was arrested. He was living in the same flat where he would rent bedspace only to women. He and five women occupied beds separated by curtains.

A ruling is expected on October 25. mary@khaleejtimes.com