Sunday, Apr 06, 2014
Dubai: A housewife charged with torturing her maid to death will spend 15 years in jail after losing her appeal on Sunday.
The 46-year-old Emirati housewife R.M. is accused of beating her Ethiopian maid K.J. for more than a month in her Al Rashidiya villa. She starved her, forced her to drink pesticide and denied her treatment after she developed pneumonia, resulting in the woman’s death.
Presiding judge Eisa Al Sharif at the Dubai Appeal Court also confirmed a three-year jail term for the woman’s Emirati husband, A.K., for aiding and abetting the crime.
Prosecutors also accused R.M. of torturing and starving a 30-year-old Filipina maid, E.K., and beating a third maid, W.J.
According to Sunday’s ruling, R.M. will also spend an additional month in jail and pay Dh2,000 for beating W.J.
Records said A.K. confined the maids in a room in the villa and sealed its windows.
The Filipina maid testified that R.M. beat them with sticks while naked, banged their heads against the walls until they bled and forced them to drink detergent.
She said K.J. was so hungry that she searched for food in the dustbin.
The forensic examiner said the fact that K.J. was made to drink pesticide quickened her death.
Both the accused pleaded not guilty.
“I swear I did not touch them. I know nothing about their injuries,” the housewife said.
The Filipina maid said her employer once forced her to drink Clorox mixed with Dettol because she disapproved of the way she cleaned the bathroom.
“She did not feed us properly and locked us up for long periods. She beat us with sticks. She constantly threatened to send me to jail because her husband worked in the court. Her brutality made me consider absconding… I failed to do so because we were locked up all the time. She also prevented me from calling my parents.”
The Filipina maid told the court that they the maids were beaten till they bled. “She used to strip us, take pictures of us naked and threaten to send them to our friends.”
According to the Filipina maid’s testimony, the Ethiopian maid fell so ill four days before her death that she couldn’t walk or talk or even go to the bathroom. She said her employer refused to take the Ethiopian to hospital although she warned her and begged her to. “R.M. offered me a huge sum of money to keep silent following K.J.’s death,” the Filipina said.
The ruling remains subject to appeal before the Cassation Court within 30 days.
By Bassam Zaza Legal and Court ?Correspondent
Gulf News 2014. All rights reserved.
