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28 March 2024

Old man lures woman into house, gropes her

Published
By Eman Al Baik

An Iranian visitor allegedly groped a woman after he insistently invited her to his house to have a meal with him, the Dubai Criminal Court heard.

MM, 21, British trainer of Iranian origin, received a call from her mother in Iran, telling her that a man will call her in order to give her an Iranian passport and other documents.

“I got a call from KM who asked me to meet him at Bani Yas square. I took the metro and reached there at about 7pm. When I arrived there, I called him and we met near the metro station. He introduced himself to me, gave me an envelope and insisted that I accompany him to his house to eat.

“He looked like a good hearted man and since he was old, I did not suspect him. We walked together to his flat. On our way, he met and talked to a young man but I did not understand what they said. The young man left us and we continued walking.

“We entered a building and used the lift. We reached his flat where I saw the same young man whom we had met in the street. I don’t know how he reached the flat before us. I sat on a chair and KM and the young man started talking and laughing. I did not understand what the old man meant when he asked me to take off my clothes and take rest. He repeated that several times but I did not pay attention to what he was saying.

“After 15 minutes the food arrived and we sat at a table and ate while the two continued talking and laughing though I did not understand what they were talking about or why they were laughing,” the victim told investigators.

When the three finished their meal, the young man left the scene and entered a room. The girl took advantage of that and expressed her desire to leave and stepped towards the door.

KM asked: “Why are you in a hurry?” The young woman did not reply and continued moving towards the door. KM then rushed towards her and pulled her by her hand, pushed her to the sofa and tried to kiss her.

“I pushed him away and rushed towards the door. He ran after me and held me strongly by my wrist. I pulled my hand way and got out of the flat. I bent down to adjust my shoe. He followed me and when he saw me bending, he put his hand into my trousers from the back and groped me strongly. I rushed to the lift but he got into it behind me. In the lift he tried to hug and kiss me but I pushed him away. The lift reached the ground floor where he got out behind me. I went down the building, got into a taxi and left to my house. I called my mother back home in Iran and she was shocked by the man’s behaviour,” the victim testified.

The next day, MM told her co-workers about what had happened and she was advised to inform the police.

Police retrieved the footage of the cameras in the building’s corridor and lift. The accused was seen hugging the woman in the corridor as she bent down. He was also captured in the lift hugging her while she was pushing him away.

Police arrested KM and confronted with the camera footage, he admitted to the crime but claimed that she had asked him to go with him to his house to meet Iranian people.

“When we reached my flat, she asked me to rest. Then she said she is hungry, so we ordered food. Then she asked my companion to drop her in Ras Al Khaimah but he refused and offered to give her money to take a taxi. She refused and when she got a call from her roommates, she expressed willingness to go. We all went down and stopped a taxi for her,” KM told investigators.

KM admitted hugging the woman when they were in the lift.

The Court will give its verdict on January 29.