Facebook friendship leads woman to court

AMM, a 45-year-old Pakistani businessman, allegedly brought into UAE a Tunisian woman whom he had met on Facebook by offering her a job in his restaurant and attempted to molest her soon after her arrival in Dubai, the Dubai Criminal Court heard.

The victim, SBA, 28, testified that she came to know the accused on Facebook four months before her arrival at Dubai International Airport last February 19 after he offered a job in the chain of restaurants that he owned.

“He told me that I will work as a waitress temporarily before shifting me to the administration to work as an accountant. He sent me a work visa and air ticket and received me at the airport and introduced himself as my sponsor.

“I went in his car which was driven by a driver. He asked the driver to proceed to a pizza restaurant in Jumeirah where he offered me dinner.  Then he took me to a flat in the Marina which he claimed was workers accommodation.

“When he opened the flat’s door, I noticed that it was very small to be a worker’s accommodation. When I asked him, he said he had brought me here because  the accommodation is not suitable for me and that I have to stay with him in the flat. I refused and told him that this was not our agreement and that I will stay in another place before travelling back home.

“He tried to calm me down and while doing so he came closer to me while was standing by the wall. He stepped towards me and put his hands on the wall and tried to flatter me by saying that I will be his girlfriend. Then he told me that I am pretty and asked me why I did not marry until now. I shouted at him and pushed him away and threatened to jump from the window if he continued to do what he was doing,” she testified.

The accused left the woman in the hall, entered his room and locked it. “I stayed awake and crying in the hall until next day morning.  He woke up and dropped me at the workers’ accommodation in Discovery Gardens, promising that he will cancel my visa and send me back to Tunisia.

“A female employee ‘J’ opened the door and took my luggage.  I took rest there and in the evening I went down to a restaurant. While I ordered a sandwich, I told my story to the cashier who advised me to report the incident to the police and the Labour Ministry which I did,” she testified.

The victim headed to Jebel Ali Police station and reported the incident. “He tried to molest me, thinking that women from Morocco are easy going as he said to me. I told him that I am not Moroccan but Tunisian,” she testified.

NAH, 43, Pakistani, testified that he had been working for the accused since three years as a driver. “I take workers at the five branches of the restaurant from their accommodation and drop them back to their accommodation. I also submitted the work permit application of the victim and picked her up from the airport accompanied by my employer.

“She had a dinner with my employer in a pizza restaurant in Jumeirah where I stopped the car and took a taxi back to my accommodation,” NAH testified.

‘J’ told investigators that he brought women to the workers’ accommodation almost every week.

The accused denied the charges when he appeared before the court, telling the jury that he has witnesses who can prove his innocence.

The court will reconvene on April 28.

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