Cleaner accused of molesting 4-year-old

dubai — A cleaner, who allegedly molested a four-year-old girl after spotting her alone in the corridor near her place, stood trial in a Dubai court.

The Court of First Instance heard the 24-year-old Nepalese man pulled the little girl by her hand into a flat where he exposed himself in front of her and then kissed her.

The incident took place on January 17 and was reported to Al Muraqqabat police station.

The girl’s mother, a 48-yearold Moroccan housewife, said: “My daughter, who is still under 5, came to me on January 18, crying and looking scared of something.”

The mother continued: “It was around 4pm when my girl was playing in the nearby garden. When she felt hungry, she walked back to our flat in the first floor. She was about to step out of the elevator when she saw the cleaner who asked her to go with him.

“He pulled her by force inside a flat where he locked the door with a key. He took off his clothes and touched himself in front of my girl. He then kissed her.”

The girl ran out as soon as he opened the door. The same night, she had a nightmare and cried as she told her mother that she was scared that a man would kidnap her.

When she came back from school the following day, she pointed to the flat where the man took her and told her mother what he did.

The mother asked her daughter about the reason she did not tell her about the cleaner straight away on the same day. The girl told her that she was afraid the mother would stop her from ever going to the garden again.

The police apprehended the cleaner shortly after receiving the complaint. “He was caught on the surveillance camera inside the building talking with the girl for quite some time. He also matched the descriptions given by her,” a police sergeant said.

mary@khaleejtimes.com