Dubai: A student who molested a schoolgirl and kissed her without knowing her real age won his appeal and had his jail sentence suspended on Wednesday.
The 19-year-old Jordanian student, A.M., hugged and kissed the 13-year-old Pakistani girl in the parking lot of a mall in Dubai in November.
In March, the Dubai Court of First Instance jailed him for three months after he admitted that he kissed the minor girl.
A.M. appealed the primary judgement before the Dubai Court of Appeals and asked for his punishment to be reduced.
He admitted that he kissed the girl but contended that he was not aware of her real age.
“Yes I kissed her because she was my friend … but I did not know her real age,” A.M. argued before the appellate court.
On Wednesday, presiding judge Saeed Salem Bin Sarm suspended the three-month imprisonment for three years on grounds of leniency and due to the defendant’s young age [under 21].
However, the judge confirmed the decision to deport A.M.
The teenaged schoolgirl testified that the incident happened after she got acquainted with A.M. through the phone [without disclosing how].
“I had known the defendant for around a year. We got acquainted over the phone … I went out with him three times. In November, we were together when he hugged me and kissed me on the lips. It happened in the parking lot of a shopping mall,” she said.
The suspect was cited as admitting to prosecutors that he hugged and kissed the schoolgirl.
Meanwhile, during police questioning, he claimed that he touched her hand only.
The appellate court’s ruling remains subject to appeal before the Cassation Court within 30 days.
