Dubai: A housemaid has been accused of attempting to murder her sponsor’s wife by repeatedly battering her head and face with a hammer because she feared getting laid off and deported.

The 33-year-old Jordanian wife was sleeping in her bed at 7am, according to prosecution records, when the 28-year-old Indonesian housemaid, Y.A., sneaked into the bedroom with a hammer in her hand.

Y.A. was said to have decided to kill the housewife when she overheard her discussing the issue of cancelling her visa and deporting her the night before the incident happened on November 19.

Prosecutors charged the defendant with premeditatedly attempting to murder the Jordanian woman, Y.H., when she pounded the hammer on her jaw and fractured it. Then she repeatedly thrashed the hammer over Y.H.’s face and head.

Chief Prosecutor Mohammad Hussein Al Hammadi asked the court to implement a life imprisonment against Y.A., who abused the fact that the housewife was alone when she attacked her.

“When the suspect discovered her sponsor’s intent to cancel her residency and deport her, she held grudge in her heart and decided to end the housewife’s life. She preplanned her attack and when Y.H. was alone and sleeping, Y.A. battered her with the hammer. The suspect attacked the victim because she feared having her visa cancelled and getting deported,” said Chief Prosecutor Al Hammadi.

The Dubai Court of First Instance’s presiding judge Wajdi Al Menyawi adjourned the case until an Indonesian language translator is brought to mete out the accusation against Y.A.

The Jordanian housewife testified that she prepared her son for school and she went to sleep after her husband took their son out.

“Five minutes later, I felt someone entered the room and I thought it was my husband. Suddenly I felt a hard blow on my head… I woke up quickly in pain. Then I was hammered several times over my head… when I turned I saw Y.A. battering me with the hammer. I tried to push her away to protect myself. The housemaid pulled me to the corner and continuously battered my head and face. I could not shout because my jaw was broken and I bled and was in severe pain… she tried to smother me and prevent me from yelling. Then my 18-month-old daughter woke up, I got scared and tried to push Y.A. outside the bedroom.

“I dragged her outside although she continued attacking me… once we reached the hall between the kitchen and the bedroom, I snatched away the hammer and threw it far. She continued strangulating… meanwhile my husband arrived. He immediately stopped her and took her out. then he called the police and an ambulance. She intended to kill me because she overheard us discussing her deportation the night before the incident… she wanted to stay working for us but we wanted to cancel her visa,” Y.H. said.

The Jordanian husband, A.M., testified that when he came back from his son’s school, he heard his wife shouting

“When I entered the flat, I spotted the housemaid assaulting my wife with a hammer… my wife bled from her face. She also tried to avoid Y.A.’s attacks,” A.M. told prosecutors.

Two neighbours confirmed that they saw the housewife bleeding from her face and had blood spots in her eyes following the assault.

Prosecution records cited Y.A. admitting that she took the hammer from the kitchen and attacked Y.H. in an act of revenge.

The trial continues.