Dubai, March 23 (IANS): An appeals court in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sunday upheld the death sentence of an Indian janitor for raping a seven-year-old schoolgirl in Abu Dhabi.

The 56-year-old man, identified only as IK, was found guilty of raping the Emirati girl in the kitchen of a private school in the country's capital, The National reported.

The defendant was earlier awarded death sentence by a lower court.

On the day of the incident, a teacher had asked the youngster to take some papers to the school administration.

IK saw the girl and pulled her into a kitchen and raped her. The assault was discovered by the child’s aunt when she found blood on her clothes.

The defence argued that there was no forensic evidence to suggest that IK had committed the rape and based on the testimonies of teachers at the school, it was impossible to take place in the kitchen situated in the school’s administration without anyone noticing.

However, the report did not mention as to when the incident happened.