Dubai: A nurse has been cleared of stealing a laptop and a wristwatch from her 81-year-old sponsor after he testified in court that she didn’t and would never rob him.
The 26-year-old Sudanese home nurse had strongly refuted the accusation of stealing the Emirati sponsor’s valuable wristwatch and laptop when she pleaded not guilty before the Dubai Court of First Instance.
On Thursday, presiding judge Urfan Omar acquitted the nurse after her 81-year-old retired sponsor came to court on his wheelchair to testify that his home nurse did not steal them.
“She did not rob me, and she never would … I am confident that she would never do such a thing,” the elderly witness told the court.
In a previous hearing, the Sudanese nurse contended in court that she was beaten and humiliated by her sponsor’s family when she denied the accusation.
The nurse, who is free to walk out following Thursday’s acquittal, was hired by an Emirati family to take care of him last year.
When the elderly sponsor was taken abroad for treatment in October, according to records, the family members said they found the stolen items hidden in luggage belonging to the nurse, who had wanted to return to her homeland.
In his court testimony, the Emirati said: “She did not steal anything … even if she stole anything, I did not wish to be brought here in this condition [on a wheelchair]. I assure you that she did not steal anything.”
The Sudanese was heard crying when she heard her former sponsor testifying that she had not stolen his belongings and that he did not accuse her of anything.
Records showed the family handed over the nurse to the police after discovering the alleged theft.
“I was beaten and humiliated by five members of the family and searched at the workplace,” she earlier told the court.
One of the elderly man’s sons testified to prosecutors that his sister and sister-in-law searched the nurse’s luggage and discovered that she had taken a laptop and a wristwatch.
The primary judgement remains subject to appeal within 15 days.
