Dubai: A Filipina housemaid complained in court that she was not paid her salary for three months and denied stealing Dh10,000 cash from her employer.
"I am not a thief. I did not steal any money from my sponsor… but I swear to God your honour that I didn't get my salary for three months," 27-year-old housemaid, I. F., said when she defended herself before the Dubai Court of First Instance.
The Public Prosecution charged the Filipina with stealing Dh10,000 from her Emirati sponsor, F. A., after taking advantage of his absence.
"I am not guilty," I. F. said when Presiding Judge Fahmi Mounir levelled her charges.
F. A. testified that the housemaid absconded from his house while he was at work.
"I reported [to] the Department of Residency and Foreigners' Affairs in Dubai that my housemaid absconded… a few days later I discovered that Dh10,000, which I hid in my clothes in the closet, were missing.
"My second housemaid also notified me that somebody took her Dh100. We also discovered that some of my children's clothes were also missing. Two and a half weeks later, the Philippines Embassy phoned me and asked me to hand them I. F.'s passport.
"The staff of the Department of Residency and Foreigners' Affairs also contacted me and asked me to return her passport… but I refused because I had already taken legal action against the suspect," the employer said in his statement to prosecutors.
A verdict will be heard later this month.
