DUBAI // A student accused of having sex with a 14-year-old girl failed to appear in court to enter a plea to a charge of sexual assault.
The Dubai Criminal Court heard that the Emirati victim ran away from her parents’ house after midnight on April 12 this year. When she returned, her parents discovered she had been with S A, 19, also Emirati.
“My mother woke me up after she noticed my daughter was not in her bed,” said A J, 33, the girl’s father, a soldier, who reported his daughter missing to Al Qusais police station.
When questioned by prosecutors, the girl said she had met S A online three months earlier and he often asked to meet her.
On the day of the alleged incident, she said S A had sex with her twice in the back seat of his Mercedes parked in Jumeirah.
According to UAE criminal code, having sex with a girl under the age of 14 is considered under force. S A said they only kissed. The next hearing is on August 16.
salamir@thenational.ae
