Dubai waiter jailed over schoolgirl kiss

Dubai: A waiter has been jailed for six months for molesting and kissing a four-year-old schoolgirl in a restaurant although he claimed he gave her a fatherly kiss.

The 22-year-old Indian waiter, S.S., was said to have molested and indecently touched the girl while she and her mother were having dinner at a restaurant on August 12.

The Dubai Court of First Instance convicted S.S. of sexually molesting the schoolgirl by hugging, kissing and groping her private parts.

When the defendant entered a plea, he claimed that he gave the girl what he described by a fatherly kiss. He contended that he hugged and pecked the girl’s cheeks without having any criminal intention.

According to Tuesday’s ruling, the defendant will be deported following the completion of his jail term.

Prosecutors accused the waiter of molesting the girl by pecking her cheeks and kissing her and touching her indecently.

When asked by the presiding judge if he groped the girl, S.S. contended that he held her in front of her parents and kissed her like a father kisses his daughter.

An Emirati police lieutenant said the girl’s mother reported to the police that her daughter was molested on August 12.

“The mother said she and her daughter went to a restaurant in Bur Dubai. She said her daughter told her while they were heading home by bus that S.S placed her on his lap and touched her inappropriately. Police arrested the defendant in the Grand Souq… upon questioning S.S., he confessed that he molested the girl,” the lieutenant claimed to prosecutors.

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