Cleaner jailed for molesting girl at Dubai airport

The man will be deported after serving two years in prison

The man denied a premeditated murder charge and the next hearing will be on November 15. The National

A cleaner was jailed for two years for molesting an 8-year-old girl at Dubai International Airport last year.

The man from Nepal, 23, locked the child in a bathroom then released her after she screamed, Dubai Criminal Court heard.

The incident took place on November 23, 2019, when the child went to the toilet as her mother watched their luggage.

“Before boarding a plane back to our country, my daughter needed to use the toilet,” said the 31-year-old mother from Sri Lanka.

“Five minutes later, she came back holding her pants and feeling terrified.”

The girl told her mother about the cleaner. Police were alerted.

CCTV footage helped police identify four cleaners who were in the area at the time of the incident.

“During questioning, one of the four tipped police about his colleague,” a police officer told the court.

“He said he saw the accused coming out of the bathroom followed by the girl, who was crying.”

The man was arrested a few hours later.

At court in July, the man denied the charge.

He was also charged for going into the women's toilets.

The court sentenced him to two years in prison followed by deportation.