Dubai: A barber has been accused of molesting a 14-year-old deaf and mute boy in a barbershop shortly after his elder brother had dropped him off for a haircut, a court heard on Sunday.
A 30-year-old Emirati man was said to have accompanied his 14-year-old brother, who suffers from speech and hearing impairment, to a barbershop in Umm Al Sheef area in September.
According to records, the man asked the 40-year-old Indian barber to trim his brother’s hair while he waited outside the barbershop.
When the brothers were heading back home, the 14-year-old used sign language to inform his elder brother that the barber had touched him indecently, said records.
The 30-year-old then took his brother back to the barbershop and when the 14-year-old pointed at the suspect, the elder brother called the police.
Police came and apprehended the barber.
Prosecutors accused the suspect of exploiting the boy’s impairment and molesting him.
The suspect failed to show up before the Dubai Court of First Instance where he was scheduled to enter his plea on Sunday.
Presiding judge Mohammad Jamal will sentence the suspect in absentia on March 13.
The 30-year-old man testified before prosecutors that his younger brother informed him that he had been molested by the suspect once they reached home.
“My brother told via sign language that the suspect touched his thighs and chest indecently. I took my brother back to the barbershop and the suspect denied molesting my brother upon confronting him. Then I called the police,” he told prosecutors.
The suspect was quoted as admitting to prosecutors that he molested 14-year-old boy.
