A DOCTOR has been acquitted of sexually assaulting two female trainees. The 55-year-old expatriate, whose nationality was not revealed in court documents, was standing trial at the High Criminal Court facing allegations that he had groped two young Bahraini trainees.
He was found not guilty of the charges due to a lack of evidence, the court ruled.
The two women said that they were receiving training for physiotherapy at a clinic when they were touched inappropriately last year.
One of the victims, aged 23, is said to have undertaken 20 sessions with the doctor, before reporting her concerns to the authorities.
The defendant told the court that he was showing them the nervous system as part of their training course and denied sexually assaulting them.
“One of the victims (aged 23) said that she was sexually assaulted for more than 10 minutes, but she did not leave the room while there was a patient in it,” read the court ruling.
“She could have left the room during the alleged sexual assault or asked for help from the patient. However, she remained quiet, which causes the court not to believe her statement.”
The claimant also alleged that she was groped from behind by the defendant who kept pressing himself on her from behind. “The defendant is much taller than the victim and it is not physically possible for him to brush against her in that manner she described whilst she was treating a patient for shoulder pain,” the judges ruled.
“In addition, the other trainee, who claimed the defendant had also sexually assaulted her, did not provide any evidence to back up her claims.
“Therefore, the court finds the defendant not guilty due to a lack of evidence.”
Defence lawyer Deenah Al Qumaish successfully argued that her client was just simply ‘doing his job’.
“My client denied the charges and explained that he was just training the women as a favour, because his son owns the clinic where the incidents are alleged to have taken place,” she told the leading judge.
“He (the defendant) did not do anything wrong and was just performing physiotherapy on the trainees. He had also treated one of them for a back complaint earlier without any issue.
“His alleged victims did not call for help or even leave the room when they claimed they were being sexually assaulted. Their statements were contradictory too.”
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