Dubai: A visitor has been accused of hugging an 11-year-old boy when the latter was walking back home, kissing him against his will and making him touch him indecently.
The 11-year-old Indian schoolboy was returning home after a private tuition at a place near his house in December last year. The 28-year-old Pakistani visitor stopped him and kissed him five times.
The visitor was also believed to have hugged the boy, according to records, and made him touch his private parts before the boy pushed the man away and ran to his house.
The boy’s father was shocked when his son told him about what had happened but did not report the matter to the police. After the boy’s mother returned from vacation in India, she came to know about her son’s ordeal and later she heard from neighbours that another boy was also molested. Then, the family reported the matter to the police in January 2017.
Prosecutors accused the suspect of hugging, kissing and making the boy touch him indecently.
The Pakistani suspect pleaded not guilty before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Wednesday.
“I did not touch him. This is a fabricated case lodged against me out of malice,” the suspect told the presiding judge.
The boy was quoted as telling prosecutors, “My father did not report the matter to the police initially. When our neighbour got molested in January, they reported to the police and my parents also informed the police,” the boy claimed.
The mother claimed to prosecutors that her husband was too shocked to report the matter to the police.
“When we came to know after two weeks that our neighbour’s child had been molested, we reported the matter to the police. My son identified the suspect from a line-up of suspects,” she testified to prosecutors.
A ruling will be heard on July 30.