Dubai: A court has cleared a housemaid and a gardener of molesting three children under seven years of age and making them perform lewd acts.

The 35-year-old Filipina housemaid, M.A., and 39-year-old Pakistani gardener, A.A., had denied molesting the two Emirati sisters and their brother and sexually exploiting them.

“Prosecutors brought in evidence against the suspects that turned out to be insufficient and uncorroborated enough to indict the suspects, hence the court has cleared the suspects,” according to the Dubai Court of First Instance’s judgement on Tuesday.

Presiding Judge Mohammad Jamal acquitted the duo.

Records cited the six-year-old boy claiming to his mother that M.A. threatened to burn him with matchsticks if he refused to sleep on his sisters (aged seven and one) and take part in indecent acts with them.

Gulf News has learnt that the court acquitted the suspects because the prosecution witnesses also gave inconsistent statements.

“The mother alleged that her children were abused and molested over a period of one year but the reports of the forensic examiner and criminal evidence contradicted her claims… there were no signs of sexual abuse or molestation,” according to the primary judgement sheet.

The court-appointed lawyers, who defended the suspects, asked the judge to dismiss the case due to lack of evidence.

The brother and sister claimed that the suspects forced them to grope each other and perform indecent acts.

Meanwhile the mother claimed that M.A., according to her statement, exploited the children sexually to make a profit.

The mother claimed: “My sister-in-law informed me that her housemaid had a photo of my one-year-old daughter on her mobile phone. M.A. admitted that she took the photo… I asked her to erase the photo. I suspected that she must have been molesting my children when I asked to check her phone. My children claimed that they were abused.”

A social worker from the Dubai Public Prosecution who examined the children said the children were embarrassed to tell their parents about the abuse and also due to their age were unable to articulate what had happened.

Tuesday’s judgement remains subject to appeal within 15 days.