Boy Molested by Quran Teacher

(Dubai, UAE) In May 2010, a 26-year-old Quran teacher, an Indian imam identified as DH, was convicted of molesting an eight-year-old boy in a mosque at the Jumeirah Lakes Towers. As a result, DH was sentenced to three years in jail.

However, the case is being appealed since DH claims that he initially denied the charges but the police coerced a confession from him.

DH’s lawyer Harun Tahlak claimed at the Dubai Court of Appeals that his client confessed only to kissing the boy innocently.

“This is not sexual assault, my client kissed the child on the cheek, this is culturally accepted in India and he kissed him like a teacher kisses his student,” said the lawyer.

Records show that the boy was taken to a private room and molested while his 10-year-old brother was ordered to sit in a corner of the mosque and memorise (sic) verses from the Quran.

The boy escaped after he landed a painful blow to the man with his elbow.

The victim and his brother are Americans and their father wanted them schooled in the Quran before returning to the U.S.

Mr Tahlak told the court that no evidence was presented to support the claims registered by police other than DH’s confession.

He said that his admission to the sexual assault was “unfounded”, and that police made him sign the confession under duress and abuse”.

The court will take up the appeal on August 22.

Incidentally, Mr. Tahlak's argument that teachers customarily kiss students in India, if that is true, really shouldn't carry any weight in a Dubai court.

Companion post at TJR.