Hotel lifeguard’s jail term for molesting girls upheld

Hotel lifeguard’s jail term for molesting girls upheld

Mary Nammour / 15 April 2010
source:

DUBAI — The Court of Appeal upheld the six-month jail term given to a lifeguard by a lower court for molesting two girls at the swimming pool of a local hotel.

The court also upheld the order to deport the 25-year-old Pakistani lifeguard after serving the jail term.

The court cleared two of the hotel’s managers of the crime of failing to report the molestation incident despite being aware of it, quashing thus the Dh1,000 fine slapped by the preliminary court for the same charge.

The Court of First Instance sentenced the lifeguard to six months in jail followed by deportation on February 28 for molesting two Jordanian girls while he was on duty.

The court also fined two of the hotel’s managers — a Syrian and an Indian — Dh1,000 each for not reporting the molestation.

The mother of the two girls told the Public Prosecution that a few days after they had checked in at the hotel in Muraqqabat, their daughters were reluctant to go to the swimming pool. “I heard them whispering to each other.” When she asked them to speak out, they said they were afraid but told her what happened. The mother immediately went and confronted the hotel’s reception desk.

When the mother confronted the staff, the lifeguard denied the incident. But the Indian hotel manager took the lifeguard aside and slapped him on his face. He also asked another staff member to take the lifeguard outside and cancel his residence visa.

Later, the manager showed the mother a piece of paper mentioning that the lifeguard’s services had been terminated and asked her whether this prompt action would suffice to which she said ‘no’. Instead, she insisted that the manager must call in the police.

About an hour later, she received a call from the reception. When she went down, a second manager (a Syrian), who was with the Indian manager, asked her not to call the police saying that there was no point in it. But the mother called the Muraqqabat police later and reported that her daughters were molested. The two girls confirmed in their statements during the investigation that the lifeguard touched them and kissed the younger sister while the other one pushed him and ran away.

mary@khaleejtimes.com