5-year-old found alone at mall in Dubai remains unclaimed

Dubai - Residents who have any information are urged to contact the control room or the Muraqqabat police station.

No one has come forward to claim a five-year-old boy who was found alone at a mall in Dubai. The Dubai Police had posted a photo of the boy on their social media platforms on Sunday, appealing for help in tracing his parents. All major newspapers, including Khaleej Times, published the missing report, but the boy's guardians or parents are yet to contact the police.

Sources at Al Muraqqabat police station said a woman had found the boy - believed to be Asian - at Reef Mall in Deira on Saturday. The police suspect he was abandoned at the mall, but they have not ruled out other possibilities. His nationality hasn't been ascertained yet.

At Press time, the police's post was still up on their social media platforms. A police spokesperson confirmed that there has been no updates in the case. Residents who have any information about the boy's guardians are urged to contact the control room at 997 or the Muraqqabat police station at 04 266 0555.

Advocate-general Mohammed Ali Rustom Bu Abdullah, head of the Dubai Juvenile and Family Prosecution, said the case has not been referred to them yet. "We are waiting for the investigation of the Dubai Police to conclude. I do not want to jump into any conclusions," chief prosecutor Bu Abdullah told Khaleej Times. "If one of his parents or both are proven to have intentionally left the boy behind, our prosecution will then handle the case because the suspect is a family member. Otherwise, it will be investigated by another prosecution."

The top prosecutor added that if they are to investigate the case, female officers specialised in child psychology would talk to the boy at the child interrogation room at the Juvenile and Family Prosecution. Introduced in 2017, the room lets children draw and play games without being under any sort of mental pressure as their statements are recorded.

reporters@khaleejtimes.com

With inputs from Marie Nammour

• Dubai