DUBAI // A tourist was assaulted by a man who sprayed tear gas in her face.
AO, 23, from Sudan, also claim-ed that the man tried to kidnap her.
The woman was at a nightclub at the Fortune Pearl Hotel in Al Murar on May 28 this year when the incident happened.
An Ethiopian security guard, HP, 30, said the unemployed Emirati KM, 31, was extremely drunk and angry that night.
The guard said that the man sprayed tear gas on customers at the nightclub, although he did not see him use it on the tourist.
The victim told the Dubai Court of Misdemeanours this week that when she stepped outside the club after a confrontation with a woman, a Jeep passed by slowly and the Emirati pushed her inside. "I resisted him fiercely but he then sprayed tear gas, which made me unable to see or resist him," she said.
When she could see again, the woman noticed him standing outside the car using her iPhone, which he stole from her.
"I seized the chance and stepped out of the vehicle then jumped into a taxi," she said.
He was charged with assaulting her with tear gas and with illegally consuming alcohol. The man denied the first charge but confessed to the second. He said the woman was his friend and he did not try to assault her or kidnap her. "Someone else sprayed the tear gas," he said.
The Emirati was convicted on both charges and fined Dh2,000 for assault and Dh1,000 for drinking.
[ salamir@thenational.ae ]
