Dubai: A clerk has been accused of groping a schoolgirl in the lift of the building where she lived.
The teenaged Indian girl returned home from school at around 12.30pm when the 24-year-old Pakistani clerk walked in to the lift behind her in March.
The clerk pressed the second-floor button and when the lift started moving upwards, he came close to the girl and grabbed her nametag and tried to read her name but she pulled herself away from him, said records.
As soon as the lift door opened, the 24-year-old clerk groped the girl on which she ran towards her house and told her parents about the incident, who instantly called the police.
The man was apprehended and referred to the Public Prosecution.
Prosecutors charged the suspect of molesting the schoolgirl.
When the Pakistani suspect appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance, he pleaded not guilty and told the presiding judge that no such incident happened.
The girl told prosecutors that the suspect walked in to the lift behind her.
“Once we were inside the lift, I pressed the fourth floor button and the suspect for second floor. When the lift’s door opened at the second floor, the suspect did not walk out or move. He told me that he had pressed the wrong button … and said that he was also heading to the fourth floor. He then grabbed my nametag to read my name, but I pulled myself backwards. Then he groped me once I walked out of the lift … I did not respond and continued walking towards my flat before he called my name in English. I did not turn and told my parents about the incident,” she told prosecutors.
The girl identified the suspect, according to records, at the police lineup three times.
A ruling in the case will be announced on May 25.
