Man stalks, molests teenage girl in Dubai; arrested

Dubai - She was shocked when he suddenly touched her

An assistant mechanic stood trial on Tuesday in Dubai on the charge of molesting a 14-year-old girl in the lift of the building where she lived.
The Court of First Instance was told the 28-year-old Pakistani tried to initiate a conversation with the girl before groping her.
The incident was reported on June 19 at Al Muraqqabat police station.
"We received several complaints about molestation incidents targeting teen girls in lifts of residential buildings in areas like Hor al Anz and Riqqa.
"CCTV recordings showed a man stalking the teenagers. We circulated his photo so as to nab him," a policeman told the prosecutor.
"We went there and as we heard the guard recounting what happened the suspect happened to walk in on us. He was the same suspect stalker who was caught on surveillance cameras sexually harassing teenage girls".
On being asked his purpose for being in the building, the accused told the cops he came to fix the air conditioning system at a resident's flat.
"We called the girl and her father to identify the suspect. She identified him immediately. The accused admitted he had touched her inappropriately".
 
The girl, a student from India, said she took the lift at around 5:30 pm on the day of the incident.
"A man -the accused - took the lift at the same time with me. I pressed the third floor button while he wanted to go to the second".
Recounting the incident, the girl told the police that the accused had asked her whether she was Pakistani.
"He was smiling while staring at my body inappropriately."
She was shocked when he suddenly touched her.
"When I asked him why he did that, he just apologized and rushed out. I told my mother and the security guard about him".
The girl's father, a 51-year-old Indian accountant, said he learnt about the incident from his wife at 6:00 pm.
The accused  confessed to the act to the police and during public prosecution investigation, adding that the girl had told him to get away from her when he touched her.
He walked out of the lift on the second floor and exited the building through the emergency stairs.
The police caught him on the same day.
mary@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai