Worker tries to kidnap boy from Dubai playground

Top Stories

Worker tries to kidnap boy from Dubai playground

Dubai - The defendant denied the kidnapping attempt charge in court.

by

Marie Nammour

  • Follow us on
  • google-news
  • whatsapp
  • telegram

Published: Sun 5 May 2019, 3:04 PM

Last updated: Sun 5 May 2019, 5:12 PM

A worker, who allegedly tried to kidnap a four-year-old Arab boy near the playground of a residential complex, was charged at the Dubai Court of First Instance on Sunday.
Prosecutors said the boy was playing away from his aunt when the 32-year-old Indian man took him away, carrying him with the child's face pressed against his chest to prevent him from crying or screaming. The abduction bid was foiled as the boy's aunt spotted the man and followed him, prompting him to let go of the child.
The defendant denied the kidnapping attempt charge in court.
The incident took place on February 21 and was reported at Al Barsha police station.
The 34-year-old Tunisian woman said that at 7pm on that day, she was with her nephew and her three-year-old niece at the playground of their residential complex in Al Barsha.
"My nephew was riding a bicycle near a building that was under construction. I walked towards him as he was about 100 metres away from me. Suddenly, the defendant emerged from the building, carrying the boy while he was running," she said.
"I yelled at him but he ignored me as he walked into an alley near the building. A security guard who was there followed us, too."
As she approached the defendant, about a few metres away, he dropped the child. "The boy, who looked very scared, ran to me. The worker, held by the guard, did not tell me the reason why he took the boy away, but he did not look sober," the aunt told the investigator.
When the police officers arrived at the scene, the worker had already fled, but the woman was able to show a photo of the defendant from her mobile phone. 
A 30-year-old Egyptian housewife, whose children were playing at the same playground on that day, supported the woman's testimony.
A policeman confirmed that a kidnap incident was reported near Dubai Sports City. "I apprehended the worker at the complex. He was drunk. He denied having taken the boy. He claimed that the child had poured a bucket of water at the site where he worked and that he yelled at him and asked him to leave. We took the worker into custody."
The accused, who has been detained, will be sentenced on May 21.      
mary@khaleejtimes.com


More news from