DUBAI // A cleaner preyed upon a 10-year-old girl by luring her into his room with the promise of tea then sexually molested her, a court heard today.
Prosecutors told the Criminal Court that SA, a 23-year-old from Bangladesh, molested the Egyptian girl on at least three occasions, once locking her inside his room on the ground floor of the building in Tecom where the girl lives.
The girl's mother learnt of the attacks after attending a conference on child sex abuse and speaking to her three girls to warn them against would-be predators.
"I had attended a conference on child sex abuse so I gathered my three daughters when I came home and warned them of the practice," said the girl's mother.
"Then [my daughter] told me she had been sexually assaulted by this man. She said he used to take her to his room when she asked for water or tea as she was playing downstairs. He would molest her inside the room."
The mother reported the cleaner to police on April 26, two weeks after the girl told an older child about the attacks.
The cleaner denied the charge of sexual assault in court.
The case was adjourned to December 13.
