The photo has been used for illustrative purposes.

Hamza M Sengendo, Staff Reporter

A taxi driver dragged a female passenger down onto the street and sped away with gifts she was taking to her kids abroad, a jury heard on Monday.

The Asian defendant, 30, stole three children’s bags, a backpack and a handbag containing sweets, new clothes, shoes and shampoo. The handbag contained the woman’s Dhs3,000 and three mobile phones.

He touched her chest then dragged her by her hair and threw her out of the taxi. By so doing he breached her modesty, prosecutors explained and demanded he be handed the toughest punishment applicable.

Prosecutors accused him of molestation and robbery. He denied the molestation charge and acknowledged the robbery but denied using force. “I sped off after she stepped outside.” The ruling will be on Jul.15.

In prosecution records, the woman who was travelling abroad hailed the defendant in Abu Dhabi and requested him to transport her to the Dubai International Airport on Nov.12 last year. He pulled over in Jebel Ali area.

He kicked her out of the taxi and sped off with her bags and mobile phones. During prosecution questioning, he said that on the way to Dubai he asked her for an affair. She screamed at him. He sped away with her items.

A Yemeni corporal said the woman described the taxi. Investigations revealed the defendant’s workplace. Cops went to arrest him there. He did not show up that day. They came the next day. He did not come as well.

He absconded completely. Police issued circulars against him. He was netted at the Abu Dhabi International Airport trying to flee the country. He had one of the woman’s bags with him. He was handed to Dubai Police.

An Emirati lieutenant revealed the woman spent two days at the Jebel Ali Police Station crying over what had happened to her. He tried and failed to take her statement as she was distressed and crying relentlessly.

“When I extracted the defendant’s photo from the criminal investigations e-system and showed it to her she recognised him. She fell to her knees crying and thanking me for having discovered his identity,” he explained.

“She said he took her money, phones and bags. And that the bags contained gifts she was taking to her little children. She pointed to her chest saying the defendant touched her chest and also dragged her by the hair.”