Dubai: A salesperson was found to be scared and crying as law enforcement officers came to apprehend him in a mall shortly after he was reported to have groped a nine-year-old girl.
The girl was said to have walked into the garment store and while she was walking around checking the outfits, the 30-year-old Bangladeshi salesperson allegedly molested her at the mall in Al Quoz.
The salesperson thought that the girl was alone in the store when he hugged and molested her against her will.
The girl broke into to tears and rushed immediately to her mother to tell her that she had been molested by the salesperson.
The mother reported the matter to the police on which the 30-year-old salesperson was arrested.
The police corporal, who went to the mall to investigate the matter and apprehend the salesperson, found the latter to be frightened and crying.
Prosecutors accused the Bangladeshi suspect of molesting the child.
The suspect pleaded not guilty and refuted molestation charges before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Monday.
“I did not grope her. It had happened by mistake and I accidentally bumped into her while she was leaving the store,” the suspect told presiding judge Urfan Omar.
A police corporal told prosecutors that the suspect was crying and seemed too scared when police arrived at the mall.
“A security guard at the mall had restrained the suspect … when we asked the girl what had happened, she said that the suspect touched her top. Upon checking CCTV cameras, the salesperson was clearly found to have hugged the girl from the back and intentionally groped her,” the police corporal told prosecutors.
The girl was quoted as telling prosecutors that the suspect molested her two times while she was at the mall.
Meanwhile, the suspect was cited as admitting to prosecutors that he had touched the girl’s top twice, saying he didn’t know why he did that.
He was also quoted as saying that he apologised to the girl’s mother for what he had done.
A ruling in the case will be announced on September 28.
