• Home
• /
• UAE
• /
• Crime

Man tries to abduct child at horse riding session in Dubai

Dubai - The boy's mother says the man has been blackmailing her into giving him money as well

A security guard attempted to abduct a six-year-old boy during a horseback riding training session in Dubai.
The Dubai Court of First Instance heard that the incident took place on April 5, when the 33-year-old Pakistani allegedly tried to take the boy away at an equestrian club. He was stopped by the boy's mother and a coach, and fled the place when the mother called the police.
The incident was reported to the Al Rashidiya police station.
The boy's mother, a British housewife, said the accused had been a family friend since November 2006. "He used to visit our house with his family. But I cut off our friendship with him in 2009 when he asked me to get a divorce from my husband. He then started to threaten and blackmail me to give him money. I lodged complaints against him at Al Qusais and Bur Dubai police stations."
On the day of the incident, the defendant tried to take her son by force, to make her succumb to his demands of marrying him and give him money. She said the defendant had falsely been claiming that her son was his. "He showed a fake marriage contract copy. There were no witnesses' names and I had not signed it. Besides, my son was born in 2010 while that copy was issued after that," she said. "He is aware that I have money and own real estate units. He is showing fake documents to extort money from me. Even though I complained, he is still harassing me and my son. I am afraid he could hurt us unless action is taken against him," she told the prosecutor.
The boy's coach said she had seen the accused and the complainant accompanying the boy to the club a few times before the incident day. "But I was never told they were married and I never discussed it or the mother's private life. When the accused tried to take the boy off the horse around 4.30 pm, his children told me the boy was his son. However, the accused left without saying a word."
She also received an SMS later from an unknown number, which said: "Sorry for what happened at the club but I had not seen my son for a month." She assumed the defendant had sent it.
mary@khaleejtimes.com