A Pakistani man was jailed for three years yesterday after he was found guilty of defiling an underage boy after luring him to his apartment in Sliema.
Arshad Nawaz, 30, was found guilty of defiling the boy at around 5pm on 11 August last year.
Testifying in court, the boy’s mother said that on the day in question, her son met a foreigner as he was walking through Independence Gardens in Sliema, who insisted on befriending him.
She said he enticed him to his apartment in Sliema and sexually abused him. She said she realised there was something wrong because of the way her son was acting – he was anxious and looked afraid.
The mother said that she went to a psychiatrist to better understand how to deal with the experience that her son had gone through and then she took her son to a paediatrician for a medical check-up.
Under cross examination, the mother said that on the day in question, her son was going to swim with some friends. She said he told her that this foreigner took him to an apartment in Nazzareno Street, and that while he was there, the man touched his
private parts with his hands.
In his testimony, the boy explained that as he was walking through Independence Gardens Nawaz approached him, but he carried on walking. But the accused continued to pester him, asking him if he owned a mobile and asking for his number.
The boy told the court that at one point he told the man that he had to leave because his mother was waiting for him on the beach and that he had said this so that Nawaz would stop bothering him.
He said the man took him to a kiosk in Independence Gardens and bought two soft drinks. He told him that they would go to his flat to have the drinks.
The boy said that when they arrived at the man’s flat, he was told to make himself comfortable. He said Nawaz told him to sit on a bed and told him to feel free to lie down on it. The boy said he simply sat on the bed. He continued that the accused started to question him about whether he had any friends, or if he knew any gay men, but the boy told him he was not interested in such people.
The boy said that as he was about to leave the flat, the man held him by the arm and touched his private parts, while he kept asking him to let go of him. He said he tried to get away, but could not do so.
Just before he left, the boy said, Nawaz said they should meet again and told him not to tell any of his friends or his mother about what had happened.
Handing down her judgement, magistrate Scerri Herrera jailed Nawaz for three years after finding him guilty of defilement of a minor. She also ordered the Police Commissioner to investigate claims by Nawaz that he was beaten by the police while in their custody.
During his testimony in court, the accused said that the police had handcuffed him, asked him for his name and then three of them had started hitting him. He said that they held him and punched him, while one policeman hit him with his baton.
“In view of the allegations of
physical abuse by members of the Police, the court orders the Police Commissioner to investigate this case thoroughly and take criminal proceedings as necessary,” magistrate Scerri Herrera said.