Taxi driver denies assaulting woman

A Dunedin taxi driver who allegedly groped a female passenger wept openly as his wife professed her love for him in court.

Salimbhai Gulamhussein Wadhwania (36) is on trial at the Dunedin District Court facing seven counts of indecent assault stemming from a ride he gave a young woman in the early hours of March 19 last year.

His wife of nine years and mother of his child, Kinjal Wadhwania, had sat in the defendant’s van with him and posed for photos which suggested he could not reach the distance to the passenger seat to have committed the alleged sexual assaults.

The images were provided to the jury, who were also given the opportunity to examine  the vehicle outside court yesterday.

As soon as his wife entered the witness box, Wadhwania broke down and buried his head in his arms.

Crown prosecutor Catherine Ure asked the woman whether she loved her husband.

"Yes, I do," she replied.

On the first day of the trial the complainant said she was walking to her boyfriend’s house after a night in town when she bumped into Wadhwania at a petrol station.

The pair knew each other through a mutual acquaintance and the driver agreed to give her a free lift home, she told the court.

Rather than take her to Andersons Bay as directed, Wadhwania parked  on  John Wilson Ocean Dr.

GPS tracking of  the taxi put him there at 2.21am.

The woman said once the vehicle stopped, the man stroked her face before kissing her and groping her as she tried to deter him.

Wadhwania vehemently denied that version of events yesterday from the witness box. He told the court the pair simply chatted before he took her to her destination.

Ms Ure asked him why he had made the diversion rather than take the woman straight home.

"I just had panic situation and she just keep talking. She keep asking the same question about family and work and something," Wadhwania said.

He was happy to drive to the lookout because he knew it as a "safe place" after taking his son  there.He objected to the description of the spot as "secluded" and was adamant he parked by two other cars.

The defendant was not allowed to give free rides and did not want to look suspicious by taking the woman straight home, he said.

Ms Ure suggested that was an explanation he  cooked up after the allegations arose.He denied that was the case.

"I don’t need to lie," Wadhwania said.

The complainant went to police 32 days after the incident, which defence counsel Len Andersen said was significant, since CCTV footage from inside the cab was wiped after a month.

Wadhwania said if the woman had approached police the day after, the video would have cleared him of any wrongdoing.

Ms Ure submitted the camera would not have recorded the incident anyway since the engine was off but the defendant said he believed it ran for 15 minutes after stopping.

Dunedin Taxis director Rhonda Ross told the jury she had known Wadhwania for about seven years and described him as "a very kind man".

She said she enjoyed robust discussions with him on a range of topics and that he always treated people with respect.

"How was his honesty?" Mr Andersen asked.

"Beyond reproach," Ms Ross said.

The Crown will close its case on Monday morning followed by the defence and Judge Kevin Phillips’ summing up, before the jury retires to consider its verdicts.

rob.kidd@odt.co.nz

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