Dubai worker accused of groping teen in her bedroom

Dubai: A worker has been accused of sneaking his way in to a teenager’s bedroom and molesting her.

The 14-year-old Canadian teenager was said to have remained silent and pretended that she was asleep when the 25-year-old Bangladeshi worker, Z.I., trespassed the home and molested her in January last year.

Prosecutors charged the defendant with molestation and entering the family’s villa at Dubai Investment Park’s Green Community without permission.

The defendant entered a not-guilty plea when he showed up before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Thursday.

“No, I did not enter the family’s villa or touch the girl,” said Z.I. when he defended himself before presiding judge Urfan Omar.

The girl’s mother testified to prosecutors that the suspect trespassed into their villa at around 3am.

“My daughter woke me up late in the evening and informed me that a stranger entered her room and sat on her bed...he molested her while she pretended that she was asleep. My daughter claimed that the suspect messed around with the contents of the bedroom and then he left. Sometime later the police summoned us to identify the defendant. My girl identified him at the police lineup because she had seen him but I did not see his face,” the mother said.

A policeman said the defendant was arrested hiding out in an unoccupied villa.

“He had the same descriptions that the mother gave to the police. During questioning, the suspect claimed that he entered the villa without the owners’ permission and went inside the bedroom. He alleged that he ran away as soon as the girl woke up once he directed the mobile phone’s light in her face,” the policeman testified to prosecutors.

The girl said the suspect was in her bedroom for nearly 10 minutes, according to her prosecution statement. She claimed she realised the man was in the room once he sat on the side of her bed.

“I pretended that I was asleep and moved my position. He touched my back and posterior. He messed around in the bedroom before he left,” alleged the girl.

A ruling will be heard on February 24.