The photo has been used for illustrative purposes.

Hamza M Sengendo, Staff Reporter

A bus driver molested a woman under death threats. He then threatened to end his life in case she alerted the police, a jury heard on Wednesday.

The Asian defendant, 27, mishandled the Tajik saleswoman, 24, under a tree in a sandy area in Jafiliya on April 1 after threatening to kill her or summon other men to gang-rape her in case she resisted his advances.

He told her to go to the rear seats then asked to be with her. When she refused he slapped her face, choked her and threatened her, prosecutors told the Criminal Court. He denied. The next hearing will be on Jun.23.

On the record, the saleswoman walked out of a mall after finishing work at around 3pm. She went to the mall’s bus stop, entered a bus driven by the defendant and told him she was going to a hotel in Deira. He set off.

He rather drove towards a residential area in Jafiliya as she was using her mobile phone not noticing he had changed his course. He drove to the sandy area and pulled over under a tree. He started praising her beauty.

He expressed he wanted her. She asked him whether he would like the same to happen to any of his sisters. He told her to shut up. She screamed for help. He gagged her and threatened to call his friends to rape her. 

He slapped her in the face and choked her with his hand. He slapped her again and vowed to kill her if she declined to keep quiet. He wanted to rape her but he realised she was not OK. He molested her, she complained.

He begged her not to tell the police because that would mark the end of his life. He said he would commit suicide. She reassured him. He dropped her at a street and she took a taxi home. She complained to her aunt who alerted police.