Dubai: A maid in Dubai was tortured to death by her sponsor who claimed that she fell unconscious on the bathroom floor, an official said.
Brigadier Jamal Al Jallaf, Director of the Criminal Investigation Department at Dubai Police, said the Arab sponsor took the Asian maid to a private hospital in Dubai for treatment, claiming that she had fallen on the ground. The hospital suspected foul play and alerted Dubai Police, who discovered that the maid had died from physical assault by the sponsor.
“The sponsor had initially claimed that he didn’t know the reason behind the maid’s death. There were torture signs on her body and her weight was only 35kg. Medical reports revealed that she had died two days before the incident was reported,” Brig Al Jallaf said. Dubai Police’s medical reports said that she had died after being struck on the chest with something heavy and also owing to the fact that she was physically too weak due to malnutrition.
Police then confronted the sponsor and his wife with the evidences. Finally, the wife admitted that her husband had beaten the maid, particularly after he was laid off from work. Police said the sponsor realised that the maid was dead more than a day after assaulting her.
According to Brig Al Jallaf, the sponsor admitted that he had hired the maid before COVID-19 through a recruitment office for Dh20,000 but later discovered that she couldn’t perform her duties owing to her poor health. “He tried to return the maid after six months, but the office told him they didn’t have a replacement due to the prevailing COVID-19 situation. Meanwhile, he was laid off from his job. He was always at home and had frequent fights with the maid,” Brig Al Jallaf added.
Colonel Adel Al Joker, Assistant Director-General for Criminal Research Affairs at Dubai Police, said the wife admitted that her husband’s mental condition became worse after he was fired from his job. “The sponsor used to beat the maid for the silliest of reasons. He used to put lit cigarettes on to the maid’s body. She had sustained severe emaciation,” said Al Joker.
While the case was referred to public prosecution for completion of the investigation, Dubai Police coordinated with the consulate of the country the maid was from to hand over the body for burial.
Col Al Joker said that the sponsor was frustrated over the fact that he was not able to obtain a refund of the fees that he had paid to the recruitment office to hire the maid. He urged sponsors of domestic workers to treat them with kindness and fairness and have the problems, if any, solved through the recruitment offices.
