Two men accused of abusing schoolboy

Dubai: Two men have been charged with sexually abusing a schoolboy after one of them laced his juice with sedatives.

Prosecutors said M.A., a 26-year-old Iranian and R.K. a 21 year old who doesn't carry personal identification documents, laced the 16-year-old Emirati boy's drink and after he fell asleep, they undressed and abused him.

The suspects failed to appear before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Tuesday where they were scheduled to be prosecuted.

According to the arraignment sheet, prosecutors said M.A. got the sedative pills and mixed them with A.H.'s juice. When the latter slept, the defendants took off his clothes and molested him one at a time.

Chief Prosecutor Mohammad Hassan Abdul Rahim asked the court to hand down the toughest punishment applicable to the alleged molesters.

A.H. testified to prosecutors that he did not know anything about the alleged incident until his friend informed him what had happened.

"I was unaware of the incident which happened because I was drugged. M.A. offered me the juice and I fell asleep immediately after drinking it," he said.

Realisation

"Later on [records did not specify the period when he learnt about the incident] my friend M. told me that the defendants were being questioned for molesting me," he added.

"I heard M.A. admitting to the interrogator that he bought the sedative pills and mixed them with my juice before he served it to me. I also came to know that after I fell asleep, the defendants abused me and they also took photos of what they did," A.H. told prosecutors.

An Emirati police corporal, who questioned M.A., said in his statement: "He confessed that he molested the schoolboy, but denied kidnapping A.H. from his house in Sharjah. M.A. claimed to me that M. and A.H. visited him at his house in Dubai to play PlayStation [games]."

"Around 3am M. left while the schoolboy stayed. M.A. alleged that he told R.K. that he wanted to molest A.H., and so they drugged the boy and molested him immediately after he slept."

Prosecution records said the suspects took photos of the abuse with a mobile phone camera.

Presiding Judge Al Saeed Mohammad Barghout adjourned the case until the suspects are legally notified about the hearing next month.