Dubai: A maid, who tried to kill her sponsor’s wife with a hammer because she feared losing her job, will spend five years in prison after she lost her appeal on Monday.
The 28-year-old Indonesian housemaid, Y.A., took advantage of the fact that her sponsor’s 33-year-old Jordanian wife was in bed when she pounded her head with a hammer intending to kill her.
The maid attempted to kill the victim in November 2012 because she was frightened of losing her job.
The Dubai Cassation Court turned down the defendant’s appeal to reduce her five-year jail term.
Presiding judge Mohammad Nabil Riyadh upheld the imprisonment against the maid.
According to Monday’s irrevocable judgement, Y.A. will be deported following the completion of her punishment.
In September 2013, Court of First Instance jailed Y.A. for a year and fined her Dh1,000.
In December 2013, prosecutors appealed the verdict and asked the Appeal Court to stiffen the punishment. Meanwhile the accused appealed the court for a swifter punishment contending that she did not have any intention to kill the victim.
The appellate court stiffened the one-year imprisonment to five years in jail.
Court records said Y.A. decided to kill the Jordanian when she overheard her discussing the termination of her services the night before the incident.
The Indonesian defendant pleaded innocent.
She hit the victim on her jaw with the hammer and fractured it. Then she used the hammer on the victim’s face and head.
Records said when the accused discovered her sponsor intended to cancel her residency visa and send her home, she decided to end the housewife’s life.
The housewife said she got her son ready for school and went to sleep after her husband took their son out.
“Five minutes later, I felt someone entering the room and I thought it was my husband. I felt a hard blow on my head… I woke up quickly in pain. It was Y.A. who hit me with a hammer several times on my head. I pushed her away to protect myself. I could not shout because my jaw was broken and I was bleeding… she prevented me from yelling. My 18-month-old daughter woke up, I got scared and pushed Y.A. outside the bedroom.
“When my husband arrived, he stopped her and took her out. He called the police and an ambulance. She intended to kill me because she overheard us discussing terminating her services… we wanted to cancel her visa,” Y.H. said.