A public bus driver stood trial in the Court of First Instance on Tuesday on the charge of molesting a woman passenger. The 35-year-old Egyptian defendant allegedly fondled and groped the 32-year-old Filipina phone operator.

The complainant told the prosecutor that the incident happened when the defendant was taking her to Dubai Investment Park (DIP) in a bus of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA). It was around 9am and she was the last to be dropped. When he stopped at the main gate, the door of the bus got stuck and she told the driver to open it. He said he wanted her to give him a kiss. She turned him down and tried to open the door. He got near her, fondled and groped her. She yelled at him while he insisted he wanted a kiss.

She told him she would file a police complaint and rushed out when the door opened. She then called the police.

An Emirati officer in the unit of follow-up and investigation of cases at the RTA, said the woman filed a complaint in March. The defendant was driving an RTA bus from Ibn Battuta Mall stop towards DIP that day. The accused was arrested by the Jebel Ali police.