Man accused of molesting asleep woman in Dubai

(Image used for illustrative purposes only)

A Pakistani man, who was giving beds for rent in a flat, has been charged in the Court of First Instance with sexually harassing a female tenant as she slept.
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 and inappropriately touching her against her will.
The complainant, a 26-year-old Vietnamese, said she only knew the accused after she rented a bed in his flat in the English cluster in the International City. She said at around 1:30 am on August 9 she woke up when she felt someone kissing her on the head.
"It was the accused who was leaning next to me. He kissed me on the neck and lied 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 his answer was that he loved and missed her, hugging her again. She stood up when he touched her inappropriately and cried as he hugged her another time.
As she begged him to leave her alone and not cause her trouble he told her she had to go through the complete leasing period before she could vacate her bed.
"He told me he would keep all my belongings so I would not leave," she said.
Later that day in the afternoon, she received WhatsApp voice messages  from the defendant in which he allegedly called her bad names.
Her Arab friend advised her in the evening after learning about the defendant's behavior to lodge a complaint against him at the police. She reported the accused at the Dragon Mart's police centre.
At around 1 am, she went with the CID officers to the defendant's flat where she picked up all her stuff.
The accused, who was then sleeping, was arrested. He was staying in the same flat where he would give beds for rent to women only. He and five women, including her, were occupying the beds which were separated by curtains. She said she had been staying there for six months and was paying Dh 700 a month.
The defendant admitted during the investigation he was alone with the complainant when he went to her bed.
He claimed he only tapped on her shoulder to wake her up.
A ruling is expected on October 25.  
mary@khaleejtimes.com