The man caught taking photos of children at Tigne Point last Sunday says that he did this as he is going to be a father for the first time, Imam Mohamed Elsadi said after meeting with him.

This news was reported in an article which appeared on TVM.

Dr Jan Chircop had posted on Facebook last Sunday, that a couple was taking photographs of a child at The Point shopping mall. "Today whilst eating out [in the piazza] at The Point, my wife noticed a stranger randomly taking a photo of our son," he had posted that the woman accompanying the man who took the photo approached his son and asked him for directions to the bathroom, and then to accompany her. The incident resulted in a police investigation.

The Imam said that the man in question, Mohammed Eldakhly, has lived in Malta for a year, and that he and his wife are waiting to give birth. He described Mr Eldakhly as a quiet, educated man.

The Imam was told that Eldakhly's wife did not ask the child to accompany her to the bathroom, and that taking photos in public is not illegal.

Mr Eldakhly told the Imam that when he read the story, he felt distressed and felt that he was accused of kidnapping, without there having been any evidence of this. He said the police took no action when he complained about the situation. The Imam was told that he felt more distressed when the police searched his home.

"He feels that he is being treated unjustly."

The Imam asked whether the Maltese people would have acted in the same way if the couple involved was European, and appealed for the Maltese to treat all foreigners the same, irrespective of colour.