Man tried to rape boy, 7, while father was at mosque, Dubai court told

In November last year, the 33-year-old Pakistani defendant was at the family’s apartment in Al Habab installing furniture when his father left for the mosque early in the morning.

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DUBAI // A man tried to rape a seven-year-old boy while the child’s father went to a mosque to perform Fajr prayers, a court was told.

The 33-year-old Pakistani was at the family’s flat in Al Habab to deliver furniture when the boy’s father left for early morning prayers.

The child woke to prepare for school when the defendant approached him and held the boy frombehind, Dubai Criminal Court heard. The man then removed his trousers and tried to undress the boy, but the child resisted.

The victim’s father, a 36-year-old Egyptian imam, said he hired two men to move furniture to his new flat. They arrived late and worked through the night and into the early hours of the next day.

“Later that day, his mother tried to dress the boy. He refused and started crying and told his mother that the worker groped him and tried to lower his pants, but he refused and ran away,” said the imam.

The father asked his son to identify the man and he confronted the deliveryman before calling police.

The defendant denies a charge of attempted rape.

“Me and the father’s boy had a fight and they filed a false complaint to the police,” he said.

The case was adjourned.

tzriqat@thenational.ae