Dubai: A housewife has been accused of torturing her maid by banging her head against the wall and pushing a scissor in her ear leading to partial deafness.
The 33-year-old Jordanian housewife, B.H., allegedly tortured her 28-year-old Indonesian maid over a period of three years before the woman absconded and took refuge at the Indonesian Consulate in January.
An Indonesian diplomatic staff took the maid to the hospital, according to records, for a medical check-up before a complaint was made to the police. Dubai Police’s forensic examiner confirmed that the maid sustained partial hearing disability and other injuries due to the beating.
Prosecutors accused the housewife of torturing her maid, beating her and causing her a permanent disability.
B.H. pleaded not guilty and refuted her accusations at the Dubai Court of First Instance on Sunday.
The prosecutors said the suspect shoved a pair of scissors in the maid’s ear and caused her a five per cent permanent disability.
She also banged her head against the wall, poured hot water on her body and tortured her with a hot iron.
“I did not do that,” the suspect told presiding judge Fahd Al Shamsi.
“Didn’t you push the scissors in her ear and cause her a disability?” the presiding judge asked her.
“No, I did not,” she replied.
The maid told the prosecutors she worked for the suspect for three years, during which she was constantly beaten and tortured.
“Whenever I did something wrong, B.H. used to beat me. She continuously tortured me until I ran away from her residence. Immediately I headed to the Indonesian Consulate … I informed them how the suspect used to torture me and beat me with kitchen appliances. She used to pull my hair, once she stuffed a scissor in my ear and I couldn’t hear. I failed to run away earlier because she used to lock the doors,” she testified to prosecutors.
An Indonesian public relations staff claimed to prosecutors that the maid took refuge at the consulate on a Thursday evening.
“She claimed to me that she was beaten and tortured … she claimed the suspect threw hot water on her. She alleged that she was beaten for no reason. We complained to the police. Then we complained to Dubai’s General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs that the maid had not been paid her salary for several months. Thereafter we lodged a labour case against the sponsor,” he testified to prosecutors.
The forensic examiner’s report confirmed that the 28-year-old sustained partial deafness, bodily injuries and burns.
The Jordanian housewife was quoted as admitting to prosecutors that she used to lock the maid up in the room at night for her children’s safety. She was also cited as claiming that she didn’t pay her salary between July 2015 and March 2016, when she absconded.
Presiding judge Al Shamsi adjourned the case until the suspect’s lawyer presents his defence on November 6.
