Dubai: A laundry worker, who molested a 10-year-old boy at his house, will spend three months behind bars.
The 10-year-old Filipino boy surprised his father when he told him on Facebook messenger that the 24-year-old Pakistani laundry worker molested him while returning their clothes.
The 49-year-old Filipino father was at work when his 10-year-old son send him a message on Facebook messenger informing him that he does not want to see the laundry guy anymore because he behaved indecently with him in December.
The defendant went to the Filipino’s flat to deliver clothes when he hugged the boy, kissed him and groped him.
The father then reported the matter to the police.
In February, the Dubai Court of First Instance acquitted the worker of molesting the boy.
Prosecutors appealed the primary judgement and asked the Court of Appeals to imprison him.
The defendant pleaded not guilty when he showed up before the appellate court.
Presiding judge Saeed Salem Bin Sarm accepted prosecutors’ appeal, overturned the defendant’s acquittal and jailed the accused for three months.
He will be deported after serving his jail term.
The schoolboy testified to prosecutors that the defendant molested him while he was present in the flat with his elder sister.
“He came inside and put the ironed clothes on a chair … I paid him the bill and when he was returning the balance, he behaved indecently with me. He touched me in a bad way. He also hugged me and kissed my cheeks. I felt annoyed and asked him to leave. Then I sent a message on Facebook to my father telling him what had happened and that I do not want to see the suspect anymore … this happened for the first time,” the boy said.
The father told prosecutors that he rushed back to his residence once he read his son’s message.
“I called the police once I reached home and informed them what had happened.”
The appellate ruling remains subject to appeal before the Cassation Court within 28 days.
