DUBAI // A gardener asked a 16-year-old girl to help rescue a dying cat before molesting her, a court was told on Thursday.
Prosecutors said Pakistani H B, 30, watched the British girl, N M, feeding cats outside her home in Al Satwa, then waited until he knew she was home alone on April 17 before calling for her help in rescuing a cat.
“He rang the door bell at 1pm and told me that my cat was dying and trapped in the garden. When I bent down to see her, he pressed his body against mine but I pushed him,” the girl said.
She told prosecutors that he then grabbed her breast but she told him her parents were coming in an attempt to frighten him. “He got scared and jumped on the bicycle and left,” the school pupil said. She called her parents immediately afterwards.
Her mother, L T, 46, a teacher, told prosecutors that her mobile phone was off but, when she turned it back on, her husband called and told her that their daughter had been molested.
“When my daughter picked H B from a lineup at the police station, I recognised that he came about a month back and asked about our cats. I talked to him and I asked him to leave,” the mother said.
Police officer M K said that officers met the girl’s father, who gave a description of the suspect. “We did some patrols in the area and we saw H B, who matched the description we had of the suspect,” said the officer. “He was riding a bicycle near the residence of the victim.”
The gardener said he did not know the girl and, on the day of the incident, he was working in Jumeirah before coming back to Satwa, when he was caught by police.
At Dubai Criminal Court, he entered a not-guilty plea to a sex assault charge, telling the presiding judge that he had never seen the victim before. The hearing continues on August 27.
tzriqat@thenational.ae
