Dubai cook's unwelcome sexual advances land him in the dock

DUBAI // A cook sexually pestered his restaurant's receptionist until she ran out of patience and complained to her father, a court heard today.

LK, 33, from Nepal, began flirting with the receptionist shortly after she joined the Pentoya Restaurant on Sheikh Zayed Road about a year ago, but ignored her demands that he leave her alone, prosecutors told the Criminal Court.

"He once touched my behind and I told him never to do that again and he promised it would be the last time but he didn't stop," said the receptionist JS, 22, a Filipina.

The last straw was on November 13 last year, when the cook came to the reception desk. "He saw me put a piece of paper in my back pocket and suddenly reached inside my pocket with his hand and touched my behind," said the receptionist. She said she slapped his hand and screamed at him, before calling her father who told her to inform the police.

Prosecutors said that under interrogation the cook confessed to a charge of sexual assault.

However, in court he denied the charge.

A verdict is expected on February 25.

salamir@thenational.ae