DUBAI // A salesman has been cleared of molesting a four-year-old girl.
The 28-year-old Egyptian denied assaulting the child when he defended himself at Dubai Criminal Court, telling judges he was “not an animal” and did not prey on innocent children and that he has nieces the same age.
A Pakistani housewife, 31, said she witnessed the incident at a mall where the man worked on January 22 this year.
She said she started shouting at the salesman when he pulled the Egyptian girl into a corner and kissed her while she screamed.
“He told me he was her uncle but the girl told me he was not related to her,” said the woman.
At nearly 11.30pm, the girl’s mother said her son told her his sister was crying. Her husband went ahead to investigate and when the wife caught up he told her a shopper had informed him their daughter had been molested.
The parents then called police.
The salesman told investigators he had been working at the mall for more than three years and regularly deals with many children. “I would never and had never done such a thing,” said the man.
He was acquitted of sexual assault after the court reviewed recordings from surveillance cameras and found no evidence of the assault.
salamir@thenational.ae
