Doctor cleared of molesting maid in Dubai

A man, accused of sexually harassing his compatriot maid when his family was away, was cleared of the charge by a Dubai court on Monday.
According to public prosecution records, the 49-year-old Indian physician grabbed the woman's hand while she was doing the cleaning work and took her to her bedroom where he molested her.
He denied the charge earlier at the Court of First Instance which acquitted him now.
The 40-year-old maid claimed the incident took place on April 11, 2017. A case was registered at Al Barsha police station.
The maid said she was working at her sponsor's house in the Dubai Sports City at 11:14am on the incident day.
"I was going about my work in the kitchen when he came in. He took advantage that his wife and children were not home at the time."
She recounted how he grabbed her by the hand and led her to her bedroom where he tried in vain to take her clothes off. He molested her and then left the room.
She told his wife the next morning.
The 46-year-old wife, also an Indian physician, said she heard from her that her husband sexually harassed her at their villa after telling her to make coffee for him.
"He followed her to the kitchen and then took her to her room. There he molested her as she would not have consensual sex with him."
The wife said she was confused after learning of the incident. "Three days later, we cancelled her visa and she went back to her country."
In December 2017, she received a phone call from the victim telling her that she was working for a Spanish family. "I went later to a legal consultancy office and a complaint was then lodged at the police station. We gave our testimonies about the incident."
The other family later cancelled the maid's visa and she went back to her home country.
The accused was arrested by the police at his clinic in Jumeirah after the complaint was filed.
CCTV footage, which was part of the case, was not of a good visual quality to be used by the investigator.
The court ruling may still be appealed by the public prosecution.
mary@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai