DUBAI // A man molested a woman in a hotel lift after telling her she was "too white", a court heard today.
The woman was leaving the Fairmont Hotel on July 12 last year when she mistakenly took a lift going up.
She told the Criminal Court that the lift reached floor 33 where the door opened and BA, 27, from Afghanistan, entered.
The man began asking her about her work.
"I answered him politely. Then he asked me about my nationality and I answered him once more. When I told him I was Jordanian, he said he was surprised as I was too white. He pinched my left shoulder and touched my left breast," recalled the woman.
She pushed his hand away and started screaming. When the lift door opened he ran out.
"I looked around and screamed for anyone near to come help me catch the defendant but no one was around," said the woman.
She reported the incident to the hotel's security, who found video footage of the incident and called police.
Policeman AA, 28, an Emirati, said that when on his arrest the man confessed to molesting the woman. The Afghan was not present at the Criminal Court where he was charged with forceful sex assault.
A verdict is expected on July 7.
salamir@thenational.ae
