Housemaid jailed for robbing sponsor

Dubai: A housemaid was jailed for six months for robbing her sponsor on her very first day at work after she had rendered his son and mother-in-law unconscious by spraying an opiate.

The Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the Sri Lankan housemaid, O.B., 31, of removing Dh18,000 in cash and some Dh34,000 worth of jewellery and valuables from her employer's house.

The court also pronounced O.B. guilty of breaking safes where the jewellery and valuables were stored. Presiding Judge Jasem Al Beloushi said the accused will be deported following the completion of her jail term.

Prosecution records said an Indian salesman called O.B. after reading a newspaper advertisement and hired her as soon as they had met.

Court records stated that the salesman got a phone call from his wife informing him that the housemaid had absconded after drugging his mother-in-law and son.

The 52-year-old grandmother claimed: "I was taking care of my grandson when O.B. came into the bedroom. I became aware of something like smoke and a strange smell. Suddenly I fell to the floor. I regained consciousness around 30 minutes later; I discovered that O.B. had broken the safe and stolen cash and jewellery."

An Emirati police corporal testified that the salesman reported the robbery on March 3, 2009. "We detained the housemaid following an informant's tip-off on August 8, 2009 in Al Rashidiya. We obtained prosecutors' warrant and searched her residence. We confiscated some stolen jewellery from her residence. When we displayed them to the Indian claimant, he did not identify any of them. The claimant identified the housemaid at the police line-up three times. We checked the criminal records and discovered that she was involved in a similar robbery."