Dubai: A worker, who tried to hug and kiss a 10-year-old girl in her grandparents’ house while she was watching television, has been jailed for three months.
The 31-year-old Bangladeshi worker sneaked behind the Iranian girl and tried to molest her and remove her clothes in December.
The girl managed to break loose from the defendant, according to records and ran out of the room.
The Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the worker of attempted molestation despite having entered a not-guilty plea.
Prosecutors said the defendant attempted to kiss the girl on her lips before she ran away.
“I did not molest her. I just tried to take her out of the room,” the accused argued in court.
Presiding judge Ezzat Abdul Lat said the accused will be deported after serving his jail term.
When asked about his relation to the girl, the Bangladeshi told the court: “I take care of an old man [girl’s grandfather] who lives in the house. I did not intend to molest her.”
The girl’s father said his daughter told him that something bad happened to her.
“When I asked her what happened, she made me promise not to get angry or beat her before she claimed that the defendant tried to molest her. She said while she was watching television at her grandparents’ house, the accused came and asked her to undress and kiss him. She got scared and rushed out of the room to her grandmother’s room. She waited until she [grandmother] came home and told me what happened. When I confronted the defendant, he admitted that he asked my daughter to undress and kiss him,” the father testified.
Records showed the girl acted out what the defendant did to her before the prosecutor who heard her statement.
She claimed to prosecutors the defendant pulled her by the arm before he attempted to molest her.
Thursday’s ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days.
