Supermarket vendor molests 12-year-old girl while buying candies, court hears
The vendor looked agitated after coming to know there were cameras inside the supermarket. Our investigations also revealed that he had done the same to other children in the area.”
Police officer, witness
dubai — A vendor molested a 12-year-old girl at a supermarket despite estimating her age to be eight or nine, a Dubai court has heard. The 19-year-old Pakistani vendor is accused of grabbing the victim’s hand and kissing it, before pulling her behind a stand and touching her inappropriately.
He denied the charge at the Court of First Instance. The incident took place in International City. The girl, a Chinese, said the incident happened when she went to a nearby supermarket to buy some candies around noon on June 12.
“A vendor there asked me my age while grabbing my hand.”
She recounted how he touched her while saying he loved her and wanted her to stay with him. “I felt so scared and told him to let me go. I managed to break free and ran out from there,” said the girl, who informed her father right away.
She told the investigator she would often go alone to that supermarket and it was the first time such a thing happened to her. It was also the first time she saw that vendor.
She said the whole incident lasted for a few minutes.
A police sergeant said they went to International City and met the girl’s father. “We heard what happened to his daughter. The suspect fled when he spotted the police car, but we apprehended him about five hours later. He looked tense and scared.”
The defendant confessed to the police that he hugged the girl and kissed her hand. He admitted he wanted to have sex with her but stopped when she started to scream and ran away. “He said he molested the victim because of her young age. He estimated that her age was eight or nine,” the sergeant told the prosecutor.
The officer checked the shop’s CCTV footage, which captured the whole incident as narrated by the victim. “The vendor looked agitated after coming to know there were cameras inside the supermarket. Our investigations also revealed that he had done the same thing to other children in the area,” the officer added.
The accused admitted to the charge during the public prosecution investigation.
According to the prosecution, the victim said she had been having a hard time sleeping at night. She would wake up in the middle of the night crying as she recalled what the accused did to her.
The police are currently gathering leads and evidence to refer the accused to the public prosecution on separate molestation complaints.The court will pronounce a ruling on August 9.