DUBAI // A taxi driver denied molesting a female passenger who fell asleep in the back of his cab, the Dubai Criminal Court heard on Sunday.
Prosecutors said that on April 15, the 22-year-old Lebanese woman and a friend got into a taxi at a hotel near the Dubai Mall.
“He dropped my friend to his house in Downtown and drove to take me to my place in Jumeirah Lakes Towers, but on the way I stretched out on the back seat because I felt sleepy and dozed off.” said N A, who was drunk when she got into the cab.
N A added she was surprised to see a man sitting on top of her trying to put a pillow under her head. Every time she tried to lift up her head, he would push it down. She told prosecutors that he touched her body and behind.
“I screamed and he felt scared to be noticed by others in passing cars, so he returned to the driver’s seat and took me to my flat then fled from the place without even taking his fare,” said the woman.
N A called police and reported the incident.
“I didn’t molest her, I was trying to wake her up,” the taxi driver, S S, 30, from Pakistan, told the judge in court.
A verdict is expected on October 22.
salamir@thenational.ae