Teenager and 12-year-old charged over assault of boy, 11

DUBAI // A jobless Emirati teenager and a 12-year-old boy have been charged over the sexual assault of a boy aged 11.

The 19-year-old was not present at Dubai Criminal Court to enter a plea against a sexual assault charge. The 12-year-old, being tried behind closed doors at the Juvenile Court, was charged with sexual assault and posting pornographic material on Instagram after a video of the incident went on the social media app.

The victim, who is also Emirati, was walking in his neighbourhood in Hatta on April 21 when the two suspects stopped him and dragged him into a house.

He said they stripped him naked and assaulted him while two of their friends were watching.

The victim was later surprised when he saw a video of himself being abused by the suspects on Instagram.

The victim’s mother, 33, said: “I walked to my son and spotted the video, then I asked him about it and he told me what happened.”

She reported the incident to police.

During investigations, the defendants’ two friends denied any involvement and said that the pair charged were the ones who assaulted the victim sexually and made the recording.

One video found by police in the possession of the jobless teenager showed a number of people stripping a child naked, though the recording was not very clear.

The next hearing will be on December 21 to summon the defendant.

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