Dubai vendor jailed for molesting 12-year-old girl at supermarket

Dubai - The vendor pulled the girl by force behind some shelves.

A Dubai court has sent a vendor, who molested a 12-year-old girl at a supermarket, to three months in jail.
The 19-year-old Pakistani vendor, who denied the charge at the Court of First Instance, will be deported later.
The incident took place in the International City on June 12.
The girl, a Chinese, said that the incident happened when she went to a nearby supermarket to buy some candies around noon. "A vendor there asked me about my age while grabbing my hand. He then kissed my hand and pulled me by force behind some shelves."
She recounted the incident and how he told her he loved her and wanted her to stay with him. 
"I felt so scared and told him to let me go. I ran out from there," said the girl, who informed the incident to her father.
She told the investigator she would often go alone to that supermarket and it was the first time such a thing happened to her.
A police sergeant said they went to the International City and met the girl's father.
"We heard what happened to his daughter. The vendor ran away when he spotted the police patrol car but we apprehended him about five hours later. He looked tense and scared."
The defendant confessed to the cops he hugged the girl and kissed her hand. "He said he molested the victim because of her young age and as she was alone," the sergeant told the prosecutor. 
The officer checked the shop's CCTV footage, which captured the whole incident as told by the victim.  
"The vendor looked agitated when he realised there were cameras inside the supermarket. During investigation, we found out he had done the same to other children in the same area," the officer said.  
In their remarks, the prosecutors said that the victim, and according to her testimony, had been having hard time sleeping at night. She would wake up in the middle of the night crying as she recalled what the accused did to her.  
The police were gathering leads and evidence in order to refer the accused to the public prosecution on separate molestation complaints.
- mary@khaleejtimes.com 
 

• Dubai