Dubai: An elderly fisherman has been accused of getting drunk and luring a nine-year-old boy to a rooftop with Dh2 and a cold drink before molesting him.

Two cleaners were said to have spotted the 62-year-old Omani fisherman dragging the Indian schoolboy into the building in May.

They chased him after suspecting that he might do something bad to the boy. Once they reached the rooftop room, they foiled the Omani man’s attempt to force the boy to perform a sex act on him.

“I spotted the man exposing himself and trying to force the boy to please him… the boy seemed terrified,” a Bangladeshi cleaner testified to prosecutors.

Prosecutors accused the 62-year-old defendant, M.A., of getting drunk and molesting the boy.

M.A. pleaded not guilty before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Thursday.

“Didn’t you hug the boy and kiss him against his will while you were under the influence of liquor?” presiding judge Urfan Omar asked the defendant.

“Nothing of that sort happened,” said the defendant.

Prosecutors said the suspect took advantage of the schoolboy’s innocence before hugging and kissing him, removing his shirt and molesting him.

The Indian boy testified to prosecutors that the Omani abused him shortly after he went out to play with some children in the neighbourhood.

“I went down after Asr prayers to play cricket with my friends. Five minutes later the suspect walked towards me and offered me a cold drink, but I told him I didn’t want one. Then he opened my hand and gave me Dh2… then he hugged me and kissed me. When he asked me to go with him, I refused, but he pulled me from my arm. He dragged me into an elevator in a nearby building and pressed the buttons up. He kissed and hugged me inside the lift. When we reached the fourth floor, he took me to a room on the roof where he removed my shirt… when he removed his clothes and tried to force me to do something bad, I refused. In the meantime two men came and stopped the defendant,” he told prosecutors.

‘Scared’

The Bangladeshi cleaner testified to prosecutors that he felt something was not right when he noticed the elderly man pushing the boy into the building.

“I asked my friend to go with me to check on what was happening. We followed the suspect and the boy into the building… We looked everywhere until we found them in the rooftop room. The man had exposed himself and was trying to force the boy to please him. The defendant seemed under the influence of liquor,” said the cleaner.

Prosecution records said the cleaners saved the boy from being abused and restrained M.A. until the police arrived.

A policeman testified to prosecutors that when he questioned the boy, the latter constantly pointed to his mouth. He said the boy was very scared and embarrassed and said the man had kissed him and asked him to perform a lewd act on him.

“When I confronted the defendant, he only admitted that he offered a cold drink to the boy and gave him money,” said the policeman.

The defendant was cited admitting to prosecutors that he was drunk and when he saw the boy he felt the urge to have sex with him.

The defendant will produces his defence argument on September 1.