Man molested girl in lift, court told

DUBAI // A man molested a schoolgirl in a lift, saying the devil tempted him to do it, a court heard yesterday.

KK, a 24-year-old from India, was a salesman at the supermarket in the building where the 11-year-old, also from India, lived, the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance was told.

At midday on June 13, after returning from school, the girl had gone to the supermarket to buy some items, but left because it was too crowded.

"When I took the lift, the man appeared suddenly and got inside the lift as well," she told prosecutors, and the man moved to stand behind her.

He touched her inappropriately before the lift door opened, and she ran out screaming, she said.

A female neighbour heard her and rushed to see what had happened, but KK had already fled, prosecutors said. Her father, MA, was told of the incident and rushed outside to find KK being restrained by several men.

TA, a police officer at the Naif police station, said KK confessed to molesting the girl, saying the devil had tempted him.

KK did not appear in court. The next hearing is scheduled for October.

salamir@thenational.ae