Quran teacher who touched 11-year-old girl’s chest has sentence upheld

The 29-year-old Afghan would ask the girl if she liked him before touching her face and kissing her.

DUBAI // A Quran teacher convicted of molesting an 11-year-old pupil while teaching her reciting has had his sentence upheld at the appeals court.

KA, a 29-year-old Afghani, was found guilty of touching the girl’s chest, face and kissing her.

Prosecutors had earlier told Dubai Criminal Court that he confessed during interrogations.

The victim’s father had told the criminal court that he had an agreement with the Afghan to teach his son and daughter Quran.

“Two weeks after the agreement, I was informed by my wife that the defendant, KA, molested our daughter,” he said.

“My daughter told her mum that the defendant would often send the boy away so that he is left alone with her, then the defendant would sit next to her and starts touching her.

“He used to ask the girl if she used Twitter and ask her if she likes him.”

In response, KA had said: “I teach Quran, so did my father. I only pointed to the lower part of her throat to show the girl how to say the letter ‘H’ correctly.

“The H letter should come from that part of the throat when reading the Quran. God forbid that I do such a thing.”

He denied the charge of sexual assault but was sentenced to three months in jail followed by deportation and the appeals court on Tuesday upheld this sentence.