DUBAI // A Quran teacher has denied molesting an eight-year-old then trying to flee the country.
Afghan M K, 30, was reported to police after the child’s grandmother said she saw him trying to kiss the girl.
He told Dubai Criminal Court on Tuesday it was a misunderstanding.
“I did not do it. They got it wrong,” he said.
The girl’s grandmother, Afghan A A, 64, said she saw the assault on November 26.
“He finished teaching my grandson the Quran and came to start the lesson with my granddaughter,” she said.
“It was the time for isha prayer so I asked him about the direction of the Qibla because I often forget.”
She said she then turned back to ask him about the Qibla again and saw him touching the girl inappropriately.
“He was trying to draw himself closer to her to kiss her,” said the grandmother, who screamed at the teacher and he ran away from the house, on the Palm Jumeirah.
The girl’s family then reported him at Ports Police Station.
The girl said the teacher often took advantage of her and that she had been afraid to tell her parents.
Emirati policeman S A said the teacher was arrested at Dubai International Airport as he tried to leave the country. He told the officer he did not molest the girl.
“He told me the girl was not focusing and trying to walk away from him, so he grabbed her accidentally from behind,” the officer said.
“When she tried to cut loose from his grip, he caught her from the leg and it was then her grandmother saw him and thought he was molesting the girl.”
The defendant presented a waiver from the girl’s parents, which means they dropped charges, to the court on Tuesday. A verdict is expected on February 4.
salamir@thenational.ae
