A taxi driver who sent an 16-year-old girl a WhatsApp message telling her that he loved her was fined Dh1,000 by Dubai Criminal Court.
The 40-year-old Pakistani driving had been driving the American pupil for three weeks before the incident happened on December 19.
The pupil said the man first drove her from her home in Dubai Healthcare City to her school in Sharjah then gave her his telephone number to call for a taxi when needed.
On the day of the incident, she called the driver to give her a lift to a friend's home in Sharjah to attend a party. She asked him to return three hours later.
"On the way back to my home after the party, he touched my left hand, but I pulled it away immediately. He then told me he loved me," said the pupil. She told the court that when she got home, she rushed out of the car and didn't even pay the fare.
She told prosecutors that once home, she received several WhatsApp messages from the driver in which he told her he loved her.
"When I was in the taxi with him and he touched my hand, he managed to pull off my ring. After he sent me the love messages and I replied asking him to stop, he sent me a picture of my ring on his finger with a message saying that he wished to kiss me on the lips," said the pupil.
The girl told her classmates of her ordeal who advised her to go to police after contacting the driver and paying the fare, which she did in the presence of her friends. She then reported the incident at Al Rafaa Police station.
In court earlier this month the driver denied sexually assaulting the pupil but admitted to sending her the message.
"I didn't touch her hand and I didn't tell her that I loved her, I only sent it to her in a message," he told judges.
Dubai Criminal Court fined the man Dh1,000 after he presented a notarised document proving that the pupil's father dropped charges against him. He will be deported upon paying his fine.
