Chef ‘kidnapped and molested girl, 6, in her building’s staircase’

Traces of DNA from the Egyptian defendant were found on the girl and they were spotted together at the time of the alleged offence on still surveillance images, though he denies any wrongdoing.

DUBAI // A chef kidnapped a six-year-old girl and sexually assaulted her, a court was told on Wednesday.

Prosecutors said the 21-year-old Egyptian defendant told the Jordanian girl that he would take her to a play area in the residential tower in Jebel Ali.

But, once on the quiet staircase, he allegedly molested her. The incident was said to have happened on a Friday morning in December last year.

The girl’s father, 32, was preparing to attend Friday prayers when his daughter came back to their apartment looking afraid.

“She was shaking when she came back. She had gone to the play zone on the fourth floor and came back because she wanted to go with another child from the building,” said the engineer.

He said his daughter told him that the chef had touched her sexually.

“After he finished, he dressed her up and let her go. My daughter told him that she would tell her mother,” the father said, adding that he called police.

Officers arrested the chef an hour later.

“He denied raping the little girl but confessed to taking the girl into the staircase and molesting her. He told us that he did not suffer from any physical or mental issues,” testified a 50-year-old Yemeni officer.

A forensic doctor examined the victim and said there was no evidence of rape but signs of sexual assault.

A forensic report confirmed that the suspect’s DNA was found on the girl. Still images from the surveillance system showed the suspect with her at the time of the alleged incident.

At Dubai Criminal Court on Wednesday, the defendant denied charges of kidnapping and sexual assault.

The next hearing is on April 9.