DUBAI // A driver's one-year jail sentence for molesting a seven-year-old boy more than 15 times in one month was upheld on Wednesday by the Dubai Court of Appeal.
The Pakistani attacker, M H, 30, would drive his British sponsor's son to school and took advantage of being alone in a car with him, repeatedly putting his hand in the boy's trousers, despite his refusal.
In July at the Dubai Criminal Court, the driver denied touching the boy inappropriately and claimed he had touched him only once, as a joke.
“When I was driving him, once he told me he had a girlfriend, so I laughed and, as a joke, touched his groin – that’s all,” said the driver.
The boy insisted the driver had touched him on numerous occasions and asked him to stop, but he was ignored.
Another worker in the household, P T, 32, from India, noticed the boy’s behaviour change in May, at about the time of the abuse.
“He became reluctant to take showers and his mood was always bad,” she recalled.
The woman said that on May 25 she saw the boy siting on the toilet and that he appeared upset.
“I started joking with him and tickled his belly but he asked me not to do that again because the driver did it to him all the time,” she said.
The boy then told her that the man had touched him sexually.
“He told me that one time he moved to the back seat to stop the driver from touching him,” she added.
P T reported the matter to police and in July the driver was sentenced to a year in jail followed by deportation. The deportation was also upheld.
salamir@thenational.ae
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The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
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More coverage from the Future Forum
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The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
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