Boy, 13, sexually assaulted near Dubai Mall fountain

Man, 45, faces charges, but denies touching the boy at the busy shopping centre

Powered by automated translation

A man sexually assaulted a 13-year-old boy while he was watching Dubai Mall's fountain show on September 11 this year, Dubai Criminal Court heard.
The Omani defendant, 45, allegedly pushed his body on to the boy's backside several times before the boy screamed at him.
A Sudanese security guard, 34, said: "My job is to keep an eye out for any violations near the fountain area. As for this man in particular, we have seen him come alone several times before and wander around, which made us suspicious of him."
As he monitored the cameras, the security guard said, he saw the accused get close to a boy. He said: "Then I saw the boy waving his arms and pointing to a woman who seemed to be his mother and an older boy who turned out to be his brother," adding that the music was very loud and therefore no conversation was detected.
The guard said that he walked to the location of the incident and informed the mother of what he had seen, after which she started screaming at the accused.
"We escorted the accused to the Dubai Mall police station. On the way, he asked for forgiveness and said he was lured by the devil," said the guard.
During police questioning, the accused admitted being in the same area, but denies touching the boy.

The police officer who documented the boy's testimony said: "He was very shy and obviously shocked as he narrated what happened to him."
Prosecutors provided the court with CCTV footage showing the man pushing his body on to the victim's back several times.
The defendant did not attend court on Sunday morning to face a charge of sexual assault.
The next hearing will be on December 27 to summon him.