A security guard accused of kidnapping a 6-year-old boy denied the accusation in court on Sunday, saying that he is the boy’s biological father.
Prosecutors told Dubai Criminal Court that on April 5, the boy was at a horse-riding school in Al Khawaneej when the Pakistani defendant, 33, tried to kidnap him.
“I was there with my son when the man came and started pulling him by his leg as he was on the horse, telling him to accompany him to his home to play with his children,” said the boy’s British mother, who is of Pakistani descent.
She said she had been married to her husband, who is also of Pakistani origin, for 26 years and had given birth to two of her children in the UK but the boy involved in the case was born in Dubai in 2010.
The defendant is a former friend of the woman, whom she said she met in 2006 at a boxing gym on Sheikh Zayed Road where she used to take her older children.
“We became friends and he used to visit our home with his wife and mother,” said the woman, whose age was not given. “Then he started asking me for financial help because he knew I own property in Dubai and was doing well financially.”
In 2009, she said the accused started flirting with her and telling her her loved her and wanted her to leave her husband and marry him.
“I told my husband, who stopped them from coming to our house, but the harassment didn't stop, so I reported him to police,” she said, adding that he would send her numerous text messages from the defendant threatening her if she did not marry him or give him money.
On the day of the incident, the mother said she was waiting for her son to finish his horse riding when the man arrived with his children and pulled her son’s leg, trying to take him.
The Polish riding instructor testified that she had seen the defendant two or three times since the boy joined their club a year previous.
“But I don't know if he was his father or not. I have never spoken to him or to the boy’s mother about what kind of relationship they have,” said the trainer, who added that the man arrived at about 4.30pm and walked straight to the boy and started pulling his leg to get him off the horse.
“His mother rushed to him, as I was heading to him as well. The two started pulling at the boy and, when I arrived I told him to let go or I will call police. He then let go of the boy and left. The two boys who were with the defendant told me that my riding student was his son.”
The instructor said she received an apology message from the defendant the next day, which read: “I’m sorry for what happened at the riding school but I haven't seen my son for a month.”
Prosecutors said that the defendant submitted a copy of a marriage certificate in a bid to prove that he had been married to the child’s mother and that the boy was his son. However, the woman submitted a marriage certificate proving that she had been and is still married to one man and that he was the father of all three of her children.
Prosecutors also said that the defendant’s marriage certificate was issued at a date after the boy was born.
“How could he be his son and the fruit of a marriage he claims happened in 2012 when I am still married to my husband and gave birth to the boy in 2010?” the mother asked.
The defendant denied a kidnap charge and asked the court to listen to his witness and to order a DNA test.
The next hearing will be on October 10.