Molested on Instagram: 19-year-old jailed

Dubai: A jobless man will be jailed for three months for undressing an 11-year-old boy, molesting him in his villa, filming him and posting the clip on Instagram.

The 19-year-old Emirati man was with another 12-year-old Emirati schoolboy at his villa when they both stripped the 11-year-old in March 2016.

After removing the boy’s clothes, the 12-year-old schoolboy used his mobile phone to film the victim and posted the video on Instagram.

In May, the Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the 19-year-old of breaching the 11-year-old’s privacy and modesty and molesting him.

Citing grounds of leniency due to his young age [under 21], the 19-year-old was jailed for three months.

The 12-year-old schoolboy was tried before the Juveniles Court and convicted of molesting the 11-year-old, filming him naked and posting the video on social media.

Prosecutors appealed the three-month imprisonment against the 19-year-old and asked the Dubai Appeal Court for a stiffer sentence.

Presiding judge Eisa Al Sharif dismissed the prosecutors’ appeal and upheld the primary judgement.

The 19-year-old will have to surrender himself and serve his punishment as he was on bail.

The boy’s mother said she saw on her son’s mobile a video image of him being abused sexually.

“The video contained footage in which someone was seen trying to rape my son. My son told me that the 19-year-old and the schoolboy stopped him while he was walking in our neighbourhood. Then they forced him into the majlis [guest room adjacent to the villa] of one of their homes and they removed his clothes,” she testified.

The 11-year-old boy told prosecutors that the defendants undressed him.

A policeman said the victim told him that the 12-year-old schoolboy filmed him naked and posted the video on Instagram.

The appellate ruling remains subject to appeal before the Cassation Court within 20 days.