UAE | Crime
Private Quran teacher in Dubai to stand trial for rape
11-year-old schoolboy claims abuse over seven months
- By Bassam Za'za', Senior Reporter
- Published: 00:00 March 24, 2010
Dubai: A private Quran teacher, charged with raping an 11-year-old schoolboy over a seven-month period and showing him pornographic material on his phone, has been referred to court.
Prosecutors have charged the 33-year-old Pakistani teacher, Z.B., with raping the compatriot boy, S.Z., repeatedly and on different occasions while teaching him verses from the Quran, and have referred him to the Dubai Court of First Instance.
Gulf News has learnt that the defendant, who denies raping the boy but admits touching him, will be prosecuted in the criminal court on April 1.
According to the arraignment sheet, prosecutors charged Z.B. with taking advantage of the fact he was alone with the boy in a private room and repeatedly having sex with him against his will. The suspect repeated his sexual abuse on different occasions.
He was also charged with possessing child pornography on his mobile phone and showing it to S.Z.
Prosecutors have asked the Court of First Instance to apply the death sentence against the defendant — which is the toughest punishment applicable under the penal code.
Scared
The 11-year-old schoolboy testified that the suspect at first started touching him and them moved on to having sex with him against his will.
"The suspect used to teach me the Quran five times a week. He did bad things to me. The last time he abused me was on January 11, 2010," the schoolboy told the prosecutor who questioned him.
The boy's 27-year-old mother, T.Q., said during the prosecution questioning: "I hired Z.B. to teach the Holy Book to my son because he taught several boys in our neighbourhood. He used to teach him while the room door was left open for 30 minutes. After the last lesson, I noticed that my son was confused and scared… he claimed to me that the suspect molested him. Immediately after I reported to the police, my son claimed to me that the teacher raped him throughout the seven months he taught him… I informed the police a second time."
Prosecution records quoted the suspect admitting that he touched the boy's back but denies rape.
Records have shown that this is the third court case involving Quran teachers accused of sexually assaulting children.
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