Dubai: Dubai Court of Appeal upheld a prison sentence to a maid who tried to sell her two-week-old baby daughter conceived out of wedlock for Dh10,000.
The Ethiopian maid, 30, was sentenced to six months jail, to be followed by deportation.
According to official records, the woman flew into the UAE in 2013 and worked for an Emirati family before she absconded in 2017.
After working in several places for six months, she was introduced to to an Emirati man, for whom she started working as a maid.
Shortly after, the man took her to a flat in Dubai where he locked her up for some time, during which he had consensual sex with her.
We provided the informant with Dh10,000 as part of a sting operation. The informant communicated with the mother and they agreed to meet in Al Ghusais. After the mother collected the Dh10,000.
Records said the Emirati then gave her Dh500, dropped her off by car on a street and bid her goodbye.
The defendant later discovered that she was pregnant. Subsequently, a friend, 28, also a maid, convinced her to sell the baby.
An informant alerted the police that the two Ethiopian women were looking for someone to make a deal for Dh10,000 for the baby.
The two women were apprehended in a sting operation.
The Dubai Court of First Instance jailed the defendant to six months in jail for child trafficking, while her 28-year-old friend was sentenced to three months in jail for abetment.
Dubai Court of Appeal upheld the sentence of the mother and acquitted the friend.
Prosecutors said the mother had stripped herself of humanity and motherhood and committed a human trafficking crime, when she decided to sell her own daughter in collaboration with her friend.
A police lieutenant said an informant alerted them that a woman, who had conceived out of wedlock, wanted to sell her baby.
“We provided the informant with Dh10,000 as part of a sting operation. The informant communicated with the mother and they agreed to meet in Al Ghusais. After the mother collected the Dh10,000, the police raided the spot and apprehended the two defendants. During questioning, the mother admitted that after she absconded, the Emirati man for whom she worked got her pregnant out of wedlock,” he testified.
An Emirati housewife said her cousin told her that her ex-husband [the Emirati man] had told them that a maid [the suspected mother] wanted to get rid of her illegitimate child. “He also told them that he was not sure whether the baby was his or not. I went to Ajman to check on the baby’s health. When we were leaving a clinic, I told the suspect to give me the child and I would take care of her and raise her. At first, the maid refused and then she asked for money to give away her baby girl. I notified the police who arrested the suspect,” she said.
