Worker stands trial for groping 13-yr-old

Marie Nammour

dubai — A man was charged at a Dubai court on Sunday after he allegedly molested a 13-year-old girl in a supermarket. Prosecutors accused the 24-year-old Indian worker of stalking the Emirati girl between the aisles of the shopping store, before hugging her from behind when no one was around.

He denied the charge at the Court of First Instance, claiming he touched the girl “by mistake”. The incident took place on May 26 and a complaint was lodged at the Naif police station.

The girl said that the incident, which took place at 5pm, happened very quickly and that the defendant fled the scene right after touching her. Her mother called the police.

The girl’s mother recounted during the investigation that on the incident day, her daughter approached her, looking shocked and worried. “We were shopping when she went alone between the aisles. She came back and told me a man kept following her and then caught her off guard when he suddenly hugged her from behind and touched her inappropriately.”

The mother requested the administration of the shop to let her see the footages from the surveillance cameras with her daughter. The whole incident was caught on camera, and the girl identified the defendant as the man who molested her. After his arrest, the defendant admitted to the interrogators he hugged the teenager from behind. The CCTV footage that is relevant to the case was used as evidence. A court ruling will be pronounced on July 31.