DUBAI // A labourer sentenced to six months in prison for trying to rape a secretary in her company office had his sentence upheld by the Dubai Court of Appeal.
Prosecutors said that at 9.15am on May 8 this year, Filipina R M, 40, came to work early to open up the office in Al Quoz.
“I was busy with the documents on my desk when the defendant came into my office without knocking on my door,” she said.
She said Pakistani M A, 22, started asking her questions but she could not understand him.
“I only heard the word school, so I told him to go away,” she said.
R M said that M A then walked behind the table where she was sitting, grabbed her around the neck and threw her to the ground.
He then pulled her hijab and pushed her under the table.
“I fought with him and screamed loudly,” she said.
R M said that M A was punching and throttling her.
“He was hitting me hard and touching me, so I held a grip on his private parts, which made him scream in agony and then he got off me and ran away.”
The secretary chased her assailant into the street and screamed for help. Two men responded and caught the defendant, who was arrested by police and charged with sexual and physical assault.
Prosecutors said that he had watched her arrive at the office, and when he saw that she was alone he attacked her.
R M told the court she had been traumatised by the incident.
“I can’t sleep since this happened and, when I do, I have nightmares,” she said. “Now I freak out when any man comes into my office.”
M A denied that he molested her and said that he was asking her about the location of the Grand City Mall.
Police officer A S, 52, said: “We attended the scene and found the women was hysterical and crying.
“M A said he was asking her about the Grand City Mall, but the mall is less than one kilometre away and the area is crowded, so he could have asked any man from outside the company,” he said.
A forensic report confirmed the woman had suffered bruises to her neck, face, back, chest and legs.
M A will be deported after completing his jail term.
salamir@thenational.ae
