Sharjah sexual assault: School bus assistant acquitted

Dubai: A Sharjah court on Tuesday acquitted a school bus assistant accused of molesting a four-and-half-year-old Indian girl in December last year.

"The court has given the accused an acquittal due to lack of evidence," Abdullah Salman of Mohammad Salman Advocates & Legal Consultants, lawyers for the accused, told XPRESS. "Details of the judgment are awaited."

The bus assistant was arrested by Sharjah Police on December 26, five days after an alleged sexual assault against the girl, a KG1 student of the Sharjah Indian School (SIS), on the school bus.

The girl's parents had lodged a police complaint when they found her bleeding after she returned from school. She was rushed to Al Qasimi Hospital where she was treated for severe bleeding and subsequent urinary tract infection.

Radhakrishnan Nair, Principal of Sharjah Indian School, said, "I have heard about the court verdict but cannot comment until I receive a copy of the court order." He had earlier told XPRESS that the parents had approached the police directly.

Salman said the prosecution may go in for an appeal against the acquittal. Meanwhile, the father of a child studying in the same school, said he was relieved to hear the verdict. "It's good to know that the buses our children use are safe. At the same time, however, the authorities should get to the bottom of the matter to find out what went wrong with the girl."

In a similar case in Dubai last year, three school bus staff accused of molesting a student of the Dubai Modern High School were also acquitted for lack of evidence after a protracted legal battle.