Dubai: An employee has been accused of trespassing into a flat at 4am, molesting a woman manager while she was asleep and stealing her Dh500 from her purse.

The 30-year-old Finnish woman was said to be sleeping in her bedroom when the 24-year-old Lebanese employee walked into her flat at a residential tower in the Business Bay area in February.

The Finnish woman and her female roommate had left the door unlocked, according to records, for their third roommate to enter the flat.

The Lebanese opened the unlocked door and walked into the Finnish woman’s bedroom before he lifted her bedsheet and molested her.

When she woke up, the 24-year-old opened her purse and stole Dh500 before rushing out of the flat.

The 30-year-old woman reported the matter to the police and investigations led to the arrest of the Lebanese employee.

Prosecutors charged the suspect with trespassing, molestation and theft.

The Lebanese suspect pleaded not guilty when he appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Monday.

“I did not touch the woman … I don’t even know her or know where she lives,” said the suspect as he defended himself before presiding judge Urfan Omar.

The Finnish testified to prosecutors that the incident happened after she went to sleep at 11pm.

“Around 5am, I woke up to someone removing my bedsheet and groping me. I yelled at that person, who rushed out of the bedroom … he then ran out of the flat. My roommates woke up and came to me quickly. I told them what had happened. Meanwhile, they told me that 30 minutes before that, someone had entered their room and was using a mobile as a flashlight … they told me that when they yelled at him, he left the room and that they thought he had left the flat. We reported the matter to the police and when I checked my purse, I found out that the man had also stolen Dh500 from my purse,” she told prosecutors.

Her British roommate testified to prosecutors that she had kept the door unlocked for her other roommate to enter.

“At 4am, we cried at the man who had entered our room and we thought he had left … but we did not check if he had done so and went back to sleep,” she told prosecutors.