DUBAI // A farmer jailed for life for raping a 14-year-old boy has lost his appeal.
The child was attacked as he returned home from asr prayers.
Bangladeshi H M, 37, watched the child leave a mosque in Al Rashidiya at about 4pm on February 25 last year, and offered to show him some toys.
“He asked me to accompany him to his room to see the toys but I told him I don’t wish to see them,” said the victim.
He said the farmer started walking behind him then suddenly grabbed him by the arm and pushed him into a room. He locked the door and waved a kitchen knife at him, threatening to kill him unless he took off his clothes.
Terrified, the child obeyed and was raped twice within half an hour. He fled when the farmer went to the bathroom to wash.
He told his mother, who called his father and they called police.
Forensics found the farmer’s DNA on the boy’s body.
He was jailed for life by Dubai Criminal Court last October for kidnapping and raping a minor.
The sentence was upheld by Dubai Appeals Court and he will be deported after his prison term.
salamir@thenational.ae
