DUBAI // A man convicted of molesting an eight-year-old Russian girl at Jumeirah beach while he was naked, must see out his one-year jail sentence the Dubai Court of Appeal has ruled.
On May 10 this year the Eritrean salesman, 38, approached the girl while she was using the public showers, held her from behind and touched her.
“We headed to the beach at nearly 7am along with a group of tourists and after a swim I went to buy some drinks while my daughter went to the showers. Then a naked man held her and touched her,” said the girl’s mother.
She added that her daughter pushed the man away and ran toward her. “We started calling people around to help restrain him until police arrived,” the mother added.
The salesman denied a charge of sexual assault when he appeared in court last June.
He lost his bid for an acquittal after the sentence handed down by the criminal court was upheld. He will serve his prison sentence before being deported.
salamir@thenational.ae
