DUBAI // A man molested a 13-year-old girl after asking her mother to take a picture of them together, the Criminal Court heard today.
Prosecutors said the Iranian mechanic HN, 30, approached the girl and her mother at a herb shop in Naif at about 9.40pm on April 5. He asked the mother to take a photograph of the girl with him inside the shop. She agreed to his request, though court records did not explain why.
As the mother took the photo the man touched the daughter on her breasts and buttocks.
When the pair left the shop, the mother noticed her daughter was scared and confused. "She asked me why and I told her what the man had done," the daughter told prosecutors.
The mother returned to the shop and confronted the mechanic, who became visibly frightened and started apologising. The mother then reported him to police.
The nationality of the girl and her mother was not specified.
The mechanic was charged with sexual assault. He was not present in court to enter a plea.
The next hearing was scheduled for October 3.
salamir@thenational.ae