Man skips Dubai Court in detention case

Dubai: A watchman who reportedly locked a schoolboy inside the school for hours will be sentenced soon in absentia after he failed to appear in court on Sunday.

Records said the 30-year-old Bangladeshi watchman pulled the 12-year-old Emirati schoolboy behind the school doors and locked him for hours for reasons unknown before the boy was freed.

According to UAE laws, when a suspect who is out on bail fails to appear before a criminal court for no valid reason, a judge adjourns the case and sentences the suspect in absentia. However, this rule does not apply to courts of misdemeanour.

The suspect, M.H., failed to appear at the Dubai Court of First Instance when Presiding Judge Fahmi Mounir called his name to confront him with his charges.

Out on bail

The suspect who is out on bail, was called twice, but when he did not show up, the judge adjourned the case for a later hearing during which he will pass the verdict.

The Public Prosecution charged M.H. with unlawfully breaching schoolboy E.S.'s freedom and detaining him for reasons not clearly known.

He was charged with preventing the schoolboy from leaving the school for hours, before E.S.'s brother and friends attracted the attention of someone who helped free the boy.

A 42-year-old Emirati retiree testified: "I spotted four children throwing stones at a school door on my way to Hatta ... they were trying to open the door with their arms and legs. I stopped and walked towards them. Three of them ran away when they saw me, while the fourth boy stood still. He told me he wanted to free his elder brother because the watchman had forcefully pulled him inside and locked him inside the school."

The retiree claimed to have seen the detained boy's legs from behind the door, which was a foot above the ground. "Then I saw a grown-up's feet pulling the boy backwards ... I assumed it was the watchman, who I asked to open the door. I asked him three times. When I warned him that I would jump over the wall to save the schoolboy, he instantly unlocked the door ... and the boy left."

The watchman claimed earlier E.S. had gone inside the school to look for pigeons. The boy, however, claimed the watchman had locked him for no reason.

E.S. alleged in his statement he was walking to a grocery with his brother and friends when the watchman suddenly dragged him inside and locked him up. "He locked the doors from inside and kept the keys with him inside his room," claimed E.S.

His 10-year-old brother, O.S., confirmed the incident and claimed to have seen the watchman immobilise his brother, from under the door.