Dubai: A housemaid has been cleared of stealing Dh277,000 in cash and valuables while her employer was busy in taking care of her cancer-stricken mother.
The Jordanian employer hired the 33-year-old Ethiopian maid in the beginning of 2012.
In May 2013, the employer received a phone call from her mother who told her that Dh16,000 had been missing from her purse.
When the employer returned home at 10pm, she found that the maid had been absconding and she might have stolen the valuables.
The employer reported the matter to the police that apprehended the maid in March 2018.
The maid was believed to have been arrested for working for another sponsor illegally.
On Monday, the Dubai Court of First Instance acquitted the 33-year-old maid of stealing Dh277,000 in cash, jewellery and valuables and working for another sponsor without obtaining the proper permission.
Presiding judge Urfan Omar acquitted the maid due to lack of corroborated evidence.
According to the primary judgement, the court fined the suspect Dh2,000 for working for another sponsor without proper permission.
The suspect pleaded not guilty when she appeared before the court.
“I did not steal anything from her residence. We were four people living in one room … it would have been impossible for me to steal anything. Her mother was at home and I left the place only with my belongings … I worked for five years for someone else until I was apprehended,” the suspect told the presiding judge.
The Jordanian employer told prosecutors: “She took advantage of the situation that I had been constantly busy with the treatment of my cancer-stricken mother. She stole gold bracelets and diamond-plated wristwatches and bracelets.”
The suspect was quoted as admitting to prosecutors that she worked in several houses after she absconded from her Jordanian employer due to some problems.
Monday’s ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days.
