Shop worker on trial for molesting boy in fitting room

Dubai — A farmer working at a children’s clothing shop allegedly lured an eight-year-old boy to the shop and molested him in the fitting room, a Dubai court has heard. The 20-year-old Pakistani man faced a molestation charge at the Court of First Instance.

The case dates back to February 24 and the incident took place at a shopping centre in Al Muraqqabat. The boy, an Indian, said he first went to the shop to try on some new clothes his mother had selected for him. “After our return from vacation later, I was at the pharmacy where my mother worked when that man came. He invited me to try on some items for ‘advertising purposes’.”

After the boy took off his clothes inside the fitting room, the defendant barged in and touched him inappropriately. “He told me to tell my mum he could not take my photos. He came again later to my mother’s workplace, inviting me to his shop to try on some clothes. He promised to give me a gift.”

The boy recounted how the accused molested him again. He let him leave after giving him a toy gun and telling him not to tell anybody about what he did.

The boy’s parents learned about the incident about two months later after an Indian man advised the mother not to let her son go to the shop. The victim’s father said he checked the CCTV footage and it showed the worker getting some paper tissues after he followed his son to the room.

A psychiatrist, who interviewed the boy, said the latter recounted the incident in graphic detail, “which makes his account of what happened very credible”. The victim was found to be socially active, with a tendency to mingle with people from outside his circle of family and friends. This increased the likelihood of him getting exploited by others, the psychiatrist said.

The defendant, who was also examined by the expert, denied the boy’s accusations.

A court ruling is expected on August 9.