Cleaner who abused four-year-old girl in her apartment building sentenced to three months

'She said she felt hungry and was coming home to eat when the man suddenly pulled her by the arm,' said the girl's mother

A cleaner who was found guilty of sexually abusing a four-year-old girl in the building where she lived has been sentenced to three months in jail.
Dubai Criminal Court was told that on January 17 this year, the 24-year-old Nepalese defendant dragged the Emirati girl by her arm into an empty flat as she was returning home after playing in the park under her apartment building and sexually abused her.
The girl informed her mother of what happened the next day. "She said she felt hungry and was coming home to eat when the man suddenly pulled her by the arm," said the mother, 48. 
She said her daughter was crying on the day of the incident but would not explain why, and had several nightmares on the night of the incident.
The following day, the girl told her mother what happened, saying she did not tell her sooner because she feared she would not be allowed to go out and play again.
"She told me that the man grabbed her arm and asked her to go with him but she told him that she was taught not to go with strangers after which he grabbed her by force," said the mother, who called police.
Police checked CCTV footage and saw both the defendant and the child near the apartment at the time of the incident but the cameras, which were not directed at the main door of the apartment, did not catch whether or not the defendant led the girl inside the flat.
The defendant was arrested and referred to court where he denied a sex assault charge. He was convicted and will be deported after serving his term.