House mover ‘kissed girl while alone in room with her’

The moving company worker is accused of sexually assaulting the girl at a flat in Al Barsha.

DUBAI // A worker at a home-moving company is accused of molesting an eight-year-old girl after he was hired by her mother to move furniture to her new apartment, Dubai Criminal Court heard on Thursday.

Prosecutors told the court that the Pakistani defendant, 23, took advantage of being alone in the room with the girl in the apartment in Al Barsha on December 17 last year and kissed her on the lips.

The girl’s mother, 36, a teacher from Hungary, said she hired the moving company to help her relocate to a new apartment and the defendant came with a number of other men.

“After they moved some of the furniture, my daughter ran towards me crying and terrified, and immediately told me that she ran away from one of the men because he kissed her while she was playing in her bedroom,” said the mother, who called police right away.

Prosecutors said he admitted to sexually assaulting the child.

But in court on Thursday he denied the charge and his lawyer requested that the case be rescheduled so he can study the case file. The next hearing is on March 13.