Drunk driver gropes and tries to drown boy in sea

The Dubai Criminal Court sentenced a Pakistani driver, who groped a 10-year-old boy while swimming in the sea and tried to drown him before his mother intervened, to one year in prison.

The Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance also ordered SK, 31, to pay Dh2,000 fine for consuming alcohol and to be deported after serving his jail term.

On June 5, the boy’s mother, LS, 35, accompanied her husband and son to the open beach in Jumeirah for swimming.

The mother noticed a man swimming close to her son before he pulled his hand around her son’s neck and dragged him deeper into the waters.

“I shouted and screamed at the man who was busy sticking his body to my son’s body and pressing my son’s head down in the water. When he did not turn his head towards me and did not listen to my screams, I entered the water and swam towards them. When I reached him, he was continuing to do what he was doing. I released my son from his grip and he tried to run away.

“My husband and other swimmers caught the assaulter and prevented him from running away until police arrived,” said the mother.

The boy’s father MF, 39, supervisor, who called the police when he saw his wife screaming and trying to release the boy, repeated corroborative testimony saying that he was a bit far away but rushed to the scene when he heard his wife’s screams.

The boy told investigators that the accused approached him while he was swimming and asked him to play with him.

“When I ignored him, he lifted me up and threw me and turned my head upside down while the rest of my lower body was above the water. I could not release myself from him and he was hugging me very tightly from my back. Whenever I tried to lift my head above the water, he was pressing it into the water again, kicking me and trying to pull down my swimming shorts. When my mother heard my screams, she rushed into the water and released me from his grip. He did that for about five minutes,” testified the victim.

Beach visitor AA testified that the accused tried to assault him too.

“While I was at the beach, a man held me by my shoulder but I did not pay any attention to him. He then walked close to me and rubbed his body against mine. I moved away. Later, I heard a woman’s screams while the same man was hugging a boy from his back and trying to drown him,” testified the beach visitor.

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