Restaurant owner denies abusing jobseeker

Hamza M Sengendo, Staff Reporter

A restaurant owner abused a jobless woman after luring her with the prospect of signing an employment contract, a court heard on Sunday.

The Asian businessman, 47, indecently assaulted the Arab woman under death threats inside an office on the mezzanine floor of a building in Al Muraqqabat area at around 10pm on May 22, she complained to police.

He dragged her by the hair and threatened to kill her in case she resisted. Prosecutors demand the Criminal Court to hand him the toughest punishment applicable. He insists she cooked up the case to blackmail him.

On the record, the woman heard the restaurant wanted workers. She met the defendant there. He offered to employ her as a waitress against Dhs2,000 monthly.

He asked her to follow him to his office to sign the contract.

He locked the office door. She asked him why. He put the key in his pocket while telling her not to fear.

He touched her and threatened to kill her if she did not comply. He dragged her by the hair and abused her.

He kept threatening to kill her and telling her that even if she shouted for help no one would hear her because the door was locked. She said she kept quiet for fear he would implement the death threats.

Thereafter, he promised to marry her. He then opened a safe and handed her a sum of money to buy her silence. He begged her not to report him to the police and reiterated the promise to marry her.

He grabbed the hush money from her, took part of it and handed her the remainder. “I was confused, crying and shivering. I didn’t know what to do. I took the sum and placed it inside a safe in my room,” she said.

She later complained and handed the sum to the police. During police questioning, the defendant argued that the woman framed him after he refused to give her money. Case continues.