Man jailed for groping passenger in Dubai Metro

The man was on a visit visa.

A 33-year-old man, who groped a woman at a Dubai Metro station, was sentenced to three months in jail by the Dubai Court of First Instance on Thursday.

Prosecutors accused the Nigerian man on a visit visa of sexually harassing the Filipina victim and inappropriately touching her on July 19. A complaint was filed at Naif police station.

The accused denied the charge in court, claiming he did not touch her intentionally. He was found guilty and was ordered to be deported.

The complainant, a 23-year-old saleswoman, said that at 11 pm on July 19, she was at Bani Yas Metro Station heading back home from work. "I took the electric stairs from the basement to the ground floor. The defendant was there, one step away from me. He caught me off guard when he suddenly groped me."

She recounted to the prosecution investigator how the accused ran away when she yelled at him. "I followed him to a hotel in Bani Yas. I waited for him until he walked out of the hotel. He then began screaming at me saying 'what happened, what happened, why are you following me'?"

The man also asked the complainant whether she had consumed liquor and whether she needed money.

"I told him I did not need any money and I called the police. He fled the scene," she recalled. When the police arrived, they questioned the hotel receptionist and learned from them that the defendant was a guest there. The accused was apprehended shortly later.

During the investigation, the defendant admitted having groped the victim. She identified him among other suspects at the police station.

The defendant can appeal the ruling within 15 days.