"He initiated a conversation with me about my name, parents, residence and school."

A 24-year-old Pakistani cleaner has been charged with molestation at the Dubai Court of First Instance after he was caught on the building's CCTV camera hugging and groping an 11-year-old boy.

According to public prosecution records, the incident took place on January 3, 2019 and was reported at Al Rafaa police station.

He denied the charge in court.

The victim, an Indian student, recounted to the investigator how the defendant approached him on a bicycle as he played in an alley. "He initiated a conversation with me about my name, parents, residence and school."

When the boy told the accused where he lived, the latter asked whether his parents were at home. "He asked if he could walk me home. He was moving closer to me and suddenly hugged me," the boy told the prosecutor.

The boy, left shocked by the defendant's behaviour, got even more terrified when he was groped.

He pushed the accused away and ran home. The man kept following him to the building and lift. The victim cried when telling his mother about it.

A police corporal said they could track the cleaner down, thanks to the CCTV camera of a nearby building. "He denied the victim's story at first. But when we confronted him with the footage which captured him molesting the boy, he admitted he sexually harassed him."

The boy's mother said that he was shivering and crying when he recalled the incident in front of her. "He said he was scared the defendant would kidnap him."

She tried to calm her son down and they went down the building where they found the cleaner talking to the watchman. "My son pointed at him as the one who sexually harassed him and followed him to our building," the mother said during investigation. She added that the man denied her son's accusations and replied saying 'what can the police do to me?'"

The said footage was enclosed as public prosecution evidence.

The accused will be sentenced on April 23.

mary@khaleejtimes.com