DUBAI // A man waved a knife at two 6-year-olds to scare them into not telling anyone that he had tried to molest one of them, Dubai Criminal Court heard on Monday.
Indian AA, 26, is charged with sexual assault and with issuing threats to a child by waving a knife on December 14 last year, both of which he denies.
Records show that the victims had just returned from school at about 2pm and were greeted by their mothers who started talking while the children played in the corridor.
Before the mothers realised, the children, a boy and a girl, had disappeared around the corner.
The girl said in records that the defendant tried to kiss her on the lips but missed when she lifted her head up.
Her friend tried to defend her and stood in front of AA, telling him that he would blow him away. “He then got angry and pulled out a knife at us,” said the girl, who, along with her friend, ran terrified to their mothers.
The girl’s Indian mother, AS, 32, said: “Five minutes after they started playing, he and my daughter came running and he told me someone pulled out a knife at them.
“My daughter was so scared and saying someone tried to kiss her. She was wiping her mouth and saying ‘dirty, dirty’.”
The mother called for the security guard and they met with the defendant and asked him about the incident.
“He said he did nothing but he was scared,” said the mother, who called her husband and he called police.
The defendant told the court he was earning a living from collecting used cartons at the time of the incident.
“While I was busy collecting cartons, the children came and started tearing boxes into pieces,” he said.
“I just bent and told the girl to stay away. When another kid refused to stop tearing the cartons, I held the knife to scare them.”
He added that he had absolutely no intention to hurt or assault the children. “They were damaging my work, your honour, I just wanted to scare them off but I never hurt or kissed the girl and her friend,” he said.
A verdict is expected on March 30.
salamir@thenational.ae
