DUBAI // A cleaner molested a female colleague while she rested at a shopping mall's mosque, a court heard yesterday.

The woman had finished her work and was waiting for her shift to end at 2am when Bangladeshi M?D, 21, approached her and felt her legs, prosecutors told the Criminal Court.

She kicked him and demanding he leave. When he refused she found a security guard and reported him.

The woman, from Nepal, said she had been approached by the male cleaner earlier that day - October 25 last year - beside a shop in Al Bustan Mall, where they were both employed.

"He asked me if I worked the late shifts and I said yes, then he left," the woman said.

She finished her cleaning duties and went to the women's mosque to rest.

"While I was inside the mosque, he came in and asked for my mobile number. I refused and kicked him out because he was not supposed to enter," she said.

The cleaner left but returned shortly afterwards and sat beside her. He asked her to speak quietly so they would not be heard and told her they were alone before touching her legs.

"I kicked him and asked him to leave but he refused, so I threatened to report him to the supervisor," said the woman. She left the cleaner in the mosque and approached a security guard.

The guard found the cleaner washing his face in the mosque's bathroom and asked him about the woman's claims. The cleaner did not reply and walked off.

The cleaner found the woman at the cafeteria and started screaming at her.

He was arrested the next morning when the woman filed a police complaint.

In court, the cleaner denied a charge of sex assault.

A verdict is expected on September 18.

salamir@thenational.ae