Tuesday, September 7, 2010

The grief-stricken family of a child who was murdered after allegedly being sexually assaulted in the toilet of a Dubai mosque have said they are considering moving to cope with their heartache.

An uncle of four-year-old Moosa Mukhthar Ahmed, who was killed on Friday, said the family had only moved to Al Qusais, from Sharjah, two months ago, and were finding it difficult to come to terms with what had happened living so close to where the horrific incident took place.

“We are totally devastated. There are a lot of children in our family who are frightened to step out of their house.

We will probably move to a new home to overcome the tragedy,” said Safdar Baksh.

7DAYS reported yesterday that it is believed Moosa was lured to the mosque near his home with the promise of Eid gifts before being sexually assaulted and strangled.

Baksh, a Pakistani, who shared the family home with Moosa, his mum and dad and two siblings, said: “We have been living in the country for the past 40 years. We came here for the first time in 1968 and since then the UAE has become our home. Many of our family were born and brought up here.

We never thought that such a tragic thing would happen to us.”

Police have arrested a man in connection with the killing who has been referred to Dubai Public Prosecution.

A police official said that the man had been drunk when the incident occurred and had admitted to strangling the boy as he tried to rape him in the washroom.

Moosa was buried in Al Quoz graveyard the day after he was killed.

A large number of family and friends attended special prayers before the youngster was laid to rest.

Meanwhile residents said they believed the man who has been detained over the killing also lived nearby.

“He used to live locally. There is still a lot of talk about the incident.

“No one seems to have seen him on that day though,” said one resident.

A grocery shop owner said Moosa was often seen visiting the mosque with his father.

“He was a lovely child and was always seen with his father.

It’s very sad what has happened,” the shop owner told 7DAYS.

Police are yet to reveal exactly what happened to Moosa but have confirmed that the youngster’s body was found by police half naked.

The washroom of the mosque where the crime was committed has remained locked since Friday.

fareed.rahman@7days.ae