A man allegedly pushed a teenager's head underwater on Jumeirah beach in an apparently unprovoked attack, Dubai Criminal Court heard.
The teen's father, whose nationality was not disclosed in court records, said that on June 15 he was with his family and five other families of friends on the beach.
A group of nearly ten men was spotted close to the families' teen daughters.
"My daughter, 14, and the daughters of our friends, between 14 and 16, all went to swim. When I saw the group, I immediately warned the girls and screamed at the men," said the father.
Fearing for his daughter, the man kept an eye on her but was distracted by his younger daughter. As he looked up, he saw one of the men approaching her in the sea.
"Her back was to us and to the man. I screamed to warn her but she didn't hear me and the man just reached towards her, grabbed her by the neck and pushed her head down in to the sea. When she resurfaced, she started screaming," said the father, who then ran towards her.
He pushed the offender away and hit him, and then the man's friends attacked the father.
An off-duty officer hurried to the scene after hearing the teen's screams and broke up the fight.
He said the girl terrified was terrified, shivering, crying and couldn't speak.
"She went into a panic attack," said the officer.
In court this morning, the accused denied a sexual assault charge.
The next hearing will be on September 26.
