Six found not guilty at Dubai court of kidnapping and assaulting teenage boy

The 17-year-old alleged that the group bundled him into a car at his home and attacked him in a remote area but the court found them to be innocent.

DUBAI // Six men were cleared on Wednesday of kidnapping a 17-year-old boy from his home and taking him to a remote area to assault him.

The Dubai Criminal Court was told that on February 3 Emiratis A J, 19, S A, 19, A Z, 20; Iranians, A G Z, 20, and A D S, 24; and J R, 29, from the Comoros Islands, snatched J T from his house and shoved him into a car before taking him to a quiet area of Al Quoz.

J T, an Emirati, said that he was at his family home in Al Mutaina when A J knocked on his door at night. “He asked me to accompany him to Al Quoz but I refused,” he said.

As he turned his back to re-enter the house, one of the other defendants pulled him towards a car and shoved him into the back seat. “Three other men helped him restrain and pull me into the car,” said the teenager.

He said that he could not see anything because it was dark. When the car was parked, J T said, he was pulled out and punched in the face.

He said he was struck with a bottle, which made him fall over, before the assault continued.

“They used swords and other sharp tools, they assaulted me for a few minutes before I found myself in hospital,” said J T, who added that the group had wanted to sexually assault him.

Prosecution records state that a car stopped at the emergency department at Rashid Hospital and the occupants threw J T out on its steps.

Sri Lankan T K, 35, who works for J T’s family, said that she saw the teenager being kidnapped and informed his mother, who called immediately the police.

All six men had pleaded not guilty and the court cleared them, although no reason for the verdict was given.