Mother recounts daughters' ordeal in defilement case
Three little girls who experienced the sight of a masturbating Iraqi man have not yet managed to get over the encounter to the extent that they would not fall asleep until their parents made sure there was no one in the wardrobe or under the bed, their...
Three little girls who experienced the sight of a masturbating Iraqi man have not yet managed to get over the encounter to the extent that they would not fall asleep until their parents made sure there was no one in the wardrobe or under the bed, their mother told a court yesterday
The mother of the girls, aged 11, nine and four, explained how she had left her children waiting in the car while she and her husband went inside a shop to order some furniture.
When she returned to check on them the eldest told her "an Arab man" had put down his trousers and stared fixedly at them while he touched himself.
The mother, whose name is not being published to protect the girls' identity, testified in the compilation of evidence against Kimu Mohammed Hikam, 30, who is pleading not guilty to defiling the 11-year-old girl and offending public morals at the Attard industrial estate on January 2 at about 11.30 a.m.
The parents had decided to leave the girls in the car because there was dangerous machinery inside the factory. The girls were visibly upset and the eldest told her mother that what had scared her most was the way the man had looked at them.
The mother then took the three girls into the factory with her. The factory owner asked them what was wrong and when he was told the story he said the man had been working in the area for about a year-and-a-half and had never caused any trouble.
The factory owner went to speak to the man who eventually returned to apologise but as they were driving away from the factory the parents decided it would be better to file a police report.
The mother said that although her eldest daughter had made her sisters look away, the girls were still scared even after the incident and refused to go to Christian doctrine lessons in a van or go to sleep before their parents checked their room.
Earlier, Inspector Kevin Farrugia said Hikam was arrested immediately after the girls' parents filed a report.
At the end of yesterday's court sitting Magistrate Lofaro ruled there were enough reasons for Hikam's indictment.
The case continues.
Police Inspectors Farrugia and Louise Vella are prosecuting.
Dr Leo Bencini is appearing for Hikam.