Dubai: A carpenter has denied molesting a seven-year-old schoolgirl who was playing with her friends in the corridor of a building.
"I am not guilty… I didn't molest her," said the 26-year-old Pakistani carpenter when he defended himself before the Dubai Court of First Instance.
Prosecutors charged 26-year-old F.S. with molesting the Indian schoolgirl, K.M.
When Presiding Judge Al Saeed Mohammad Barghout levelled the molestation charge against F.S., the latter pleaded innocent.
Then the girl was spotted approaching the jury's bench wanting to give her statement, but Presiding Judge Barghout decided to hold the hearing behind closed doors.
In his statement before the Public Prosecution, the girl's 39-year-old father testified that the incident happened in front of his flat in Al Rifaa.
"My daughter came into the house and claimed that a strange man touched her private parts… she told me that she was playing with the neighbours' children when somebody called her. He asked her about the shoe racks before he walked close to her and groped her chest. While she was telling me what happened, F.S. came out from the opposite flat and she pointed at him.
"I rushed towards him and asked him if he touched my girl, but he denied. My daughter immediately denied his claims and confirmed that he was the one who touched her. He denied a second time, although the neighbour's child confirmed that it was the same man who touched the seven-year-old," claimed the father.
Prosecution records said the suspect ran away soon after the two children identified him. The father ran after the defendant in an attempt to catch him, but failed.
"I reported the police… two days later I received a phone call from the police station. They asked me to go and identify the suspect who was arrested. My girl and I identified the suspect at the police lineup," claimed the father.
Records said the carpenter initially admitted that he molested the girl.
