Housemaid in court for robbing sponsor in 2009
Lawyer tells court that suspect ran away from sponsor due to mistreatment and not getting salary for three months
Dubai: A housemaid on Tuesday denied in court the charge of robbing Dh11,000 worth of cash and jewellery from her sponsor’s home in 2009.
The Emirati sponsor was said to have been notified by his wife that their Filipina house help stopped answering her phone shortly after she disappeared from their residence in Al Gusais.
When the woman was unreachable for some time, the sponsor lodged an absconding complaint against the 40-year-old main in November 2009.
Police apprehended the housemaid following nearly nine years on the run.
Records did not mention when or how was the woman arrested.
Prosecutors charged the Filipina suspect of stealing cash and valuables from her sponsor.
The Filipina suspect pleaded not guilty and refuted the accusation when she appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Tuesday.
“I did not steal. I just want to fly back home,” the suspect told presiding judge Mohammad Jamal.
The suspect’s lawyer said that his client had to run away from her sponsor’s residence because she was constantly humiliated, treated badly and beaten.
“The sponsor and his wife treated the suspect badly and inhumanely. She was constantly beaten and insulted and she was also left for nearly three months without getting her salary paid. Once she absconded in 2009, the sponsor lodged the complaint out of malice. She could not stand the mistreatment and offenses anymore so that was why she ran away. She was not caught stealing red handed… prosecutors did not submit corroborated evidence against her to convict her of theft,” argued the lawyer.
The lawyer argued in his defence that his client came to Dubai to earn a decent living and not to steal.
A ruling will be heard on October 28.