DUBAI // A labourer tried to kiss the feet of a mother whose daughter he had molested, the criminal court heard on Sunday.
Prosecutors said that on December 30 last year, Australian A E, 38, had taken her seven-year-old daughter with her when she visited a flat at Dubai Marina to check on the progress of maintenance work before moving in.
The woman inspected the bathroom and had gone on to look at the rest of the flat when she noticed that her daughter had not followed her.
“I went to look for her and saw the man coming out of the bathroom and my daughter behind him,” said the mother. “She told me she was scared because the worker had touched her private parts and kissed her chest, but without undressing her,” said A E.
When the furious mother confronted the worker, D A, he knelt down, tried to kiss her feet and begged her not to call the police.
When she left the apartment to find security guards, the 25-year-old Bangladeshi man ran away.
One of his colleagues called him and convinced him to return, and he was arrested by police.
D A denied the charges of child molestation in court.
“I only kissed her on the cheek,” he said.
A verdict is due on May 18.
salamir@thenational.ae