DUBAI // A Quran teacher has denied molesting an eight-year-old then trying to flee the country.
Afghan M K, 30, was reported to police after the child’s grandmother said she saw him trying to kiss the girl.
He told Dubai Criminal Court on Tuesday it was a misunderstanding.
“I did not do it. They got it wrong,” he said.
The girl’s grandmother, Afghan A A, 64, said she saw the assault on November 26.
“He finished teaching my grandson the Quran and came to start the lesson with my granddaughter,” she said.
“It was the time for isha prayer so I asked him about the direction of the Qibla because I often forget.”
She said she then turned back to ask him about the Qibla again and saw him touching the girl inappropriately.
“He was trying to draw himself closer to her to kiss her,” said the grandmother, who screamed at the teacher and he ran away from the house, on the Palm Jumeirah.
The girl’s family then reported him at Ports Police Station.
The girl said the teacher often took advantage of her and that she had been afraid to tell her parents.
Emirati policeman S A said the teacher was arrested at Dubai International Airport as he tried to leave the country. He told the officer he did not molest the girl.
“He told me the girl was not focusing and trying to walk away from him, so he grabbed her accidentally from behind,” the officer said.
“When she tried to cut loose from his grip, he caught her from the leg and it was then her grandmother saw him and thought he was molesting the girl.”
The defendant presented a waiver from the girl’s parents, which means they dropped charges, to the court on Tuesday. A verdict is expected on February 4.
salamir@thenational.ae
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The five stages of early child’s play
From Dubai-based clinical psychologist Daniella Salazar:
1. Solitary Play: This is where Infants and toddlers start to play on their own without seeming to notice the people around them. This is the beginning of play.
2. Onlooker play: This occurs where the toddler enjoys watching other people play. There doesn’t necessarily need to be any effort to begin play. They are learning how to imitate behaviours from others. This type of play may also appear in children who are more shy and introverted.
3. Parallel Play: This generally starts when children begin playing side-by-side without any interaction. Even though they aren’t physically interacting they are paying attention to each other. This is the beginning of the desire to be with other children.
4. Associative Play: At around age four or five, children become more interested in each other than in toys and begin to interact more. In this stage children start asking questions and talking about the different activities they are engaging in. They realise they have similar goals in play such as building a tower or playing with cars.
5. Social Play: In this stage children are starting to socialise more. They begin to share ideas and follow certain rules in a game. They slowly learn the definition of teamwork. They get to engage in basic social skills and interests begin to lead social interactions.
The Al Barzakh Festival takes place on Wednesday and Thursday at 7.30pm in the Red Theatre, NYUAD, Saadiyat Island. Tickets cost Dh105 for adults from platinumlist.net
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Algae, waste coffee grounds and orange peels will be used in the pavilion's walls and gangways
The hulls of three ships will be used for the roof
The hulls will painted to make the largest Italian tricolour in the country’s history
Several pillars more than 20 metres high will support the structure
Roughly 15 tonnes of steel will be used
Secret Pigeon Service: Operation Colomba, Resistance and the Struggle to Liberate Europe
Gordon Corera, Harper Collins
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