Dubai: Investigations have revealed that three suspects did not rape a four-year-old Indian schoolgirl but they molested her, said Dubai Attorney General yesterday.
"The suspects breached the modesty of the schoolgirl and molested her after they groped her private parts. There was no rape. Based on the investigations which were conducted by Chief Prosecutor Sami Al Shamsi, Head of Bur Dubai Prosecution, and prosecutor Ahmad Al Attar and Dubai Police's forensic reports, the girl was not raped but she was molested.
"The suspects have been charged with sexually molesting the girl and referred to the Dubai Court of First Instance," Dubai Attorney General Essam Eisa Al Humaidan said in a media statement on Sunday.
Al Attar told Gulf News last week that the investigations were about to conclude and a decision to refer the case to court would be taken soon. He also denied that the case was dismissed and that the charges were dropped.
A source said that a hearing would be scheduled soon.
Dubai Police referred the three Indian suspects, who sexually [assaulted] the girl on the bus while driving her back home from school, to the Public Prosecution last month.
The suspects — the bus driver, the supervisor and his assistant — sexually assaulted the girl while she was asleep on her way back home, Al Humaidan said.
Prosecutors requested the court to implement articles 44, 121 and 356 of the Federal Penal Law.
Article 356 stipulates that a suspect who has consensual sex with another partner faces minimum one year in jail.
If the same crime is committed forcefully or against a male or female under the age of 14, a temporary imprisonment of 3-15 years will be handed out to the defendant.
