Dubai: An Azerbaijani woman has been charged with attacking a Sudanese worker in public and attempting to steal Dh36,500 from him with the collaboration of her compatriot woman, who ran away.

Prosecutors accused the 36-year-old Azerbaijani woman with trying to rob the 48-year-old Sudanese by hitting his hand in an attempt to drop the money to the floor so that her compatriot fugitive would snatch it and run away.

The 36-year-old M.M. failed to appear before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Monday. According to the chargesheet, prosecutors charged M.M. with snatching the money from the Sudanese worker's hand and handed it to her compatriot before they both ran away. Records said 48-year-old M.H. chased his alleged attackers and managed to keep hold of M.M. until police came and arrested her.

The Sudanese testified that the women stole the money after he collected it from a money exchange in a bus station in Deira.

He said the woman who is at large snatched the bag and ran away. "The other woman [M.M.] followed her towards a building. I ran behind them and stopped M.M. The fugitive woman came and caught me from behind meanwhile M.M. slid her hand into the bag and took a bunch of money…" claimed the worker in his statement to prosecutors.

The court reconvenes on March 29.