The Abu Dhabi Criminal Court has given death penalty to a 56-year-old school concierge accused of raping a seven-year-old student.

The court bench, presided over by Judge Sayyed Abdel Basir, handed down the capital punishment, which was unanimously reached with two other judges, to the Indian defendant after he was found guilty of three charges of rape, sexual assault and making killing threats.

The court referred the civil lawsuit to the competent civil court.The family of the Emirati girl has been claiming Dh 5 million in damages.

Earlier, counsel Hussein Al Jaziri, on behalf of the family, argued in the pleas he submitted to the court that the private school was also to be blamed in the pupil’s ordeal as it failed to secure the safety of one of its students because of its shortcoming in the control and surveillance of its workers. “The girl and her parents have suffered psychological damage and trauma following the incident. They will continue to suffer because of what happened.”

According to the prosecution records, the incident happened onApril 14when the accused dragged the girl against her will to the school kitchen where he allegedly raped her.

She had been on her way back from the administration office where she dropped some papers as per her teacher’s request. “This is in itself a violation of the educational convention,” argued Al Jaziri.

The defence lawyer argued that the accusations could not be reasonable. He claimed the incident was believed to have happened aroundnoontime and during the break when the kitchen was open. “None would commit such a crime in such circumstances”.

The incident was discovered when the girl’s aunt found her laying down on the floor after she returned home from school.

She noticed the girl had a bad smell on her and took her to give her a bath.

“She would not let me take down her underwear and she held on to it. But when I finally took it down I saw red marks and infection on her body and blood on her underwear,” the aunt testified.

The girl then told her mother that it was a worker at her school who raped her. The girl said that the worker used to sexually assault her.

She told her mother that she did not tell them or her teachers about his doings before because she was afraid of him as he had threatened to kill her and her mother and told her that he knew where their house was.

The prosecution has been seeking the maximum penalty. “The UAE laws protect the minors. A child in this age does not have a will and perception of things and may not be considered a consenting partner.”

The accused denied in the interrogation having raped or assaulted the girl. He alleged he only hugged and touched her inappropriately.

According to the forensic report, the girl’s examination showed she was raped and sexually abused. Scratches were also found on the defendant’s back and neck.

The verdict will now automatically go to the appeal as per article 230 of the Criminal Procedures Law.

mary@khaleejtimes.com