Dubai: A mother discovered that her five-year-old girl had been molested by a cleaner when the child contorted her face in disgust on seeing the man and told her that he had kissed her against her will previously and she couldn’t bear his foul breath.

The Iranian schoolgirl was said to be heading with her family to the park in March when her mother stepped out of the car to give surplus food to the 46-year-old Indian cleaner, who works around the neighbourhood.

On returning to the car, the mother noticed an expression of utter disgust etched on her child’s face, according to records.

When she asked her daughter why was she had made her face so, the five-year-old told her mother it was because the cleaner had kissed her on her mouth two times before and he had very foul breath.

Thereafter, the parents reported the matter to the police who summoned the cleaner for questioning.

Police interrogations revealed that the 46-year-old cleaner had hugged and kissed the girl two times while she was playing on the trampoline at the neighbour’s residence.

Prosecutors charged the Indian suspect with hugging and kissing the child against her will.

According to the charges sheet, the suspect abused the girl’s innocence and molested her.

The suspect pleaded not guilty when he appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Wednesday.

“Yes I kissed her but I did not kiss her mouth; I gave her a peck on the cheek as she reminded me of my daughter. I would never molest a child, I just gave her a fatherly kiss,” he contended before presiding judge Fahd Al Shamsi.

The mother told prosecutors that she learnt about the incident only a few days later. “When my daughter saw me giving left-over food to the suspect, she made a facial sign of disgust and hid behind the car seat. She told me that the suspect has a bad mouth odour when I asked her why she was disgusted. When I asked her for further details, she explained to me that he had kissed her twice while she was playing on the trampoline at the neighbours’ residence. She told me that she was too scared to tell us what had happened earlier. I notified my husband instantly and we reported the matter to the police,” she testified.

The Iranian schoolgirl was cited as telling prosecutors that the suspect licked her face and kissed her while she was playing outside the house.

A ruling will be heard on May 27.