Sri Lankan maid jailed in Dubai over robbery
A Sri Lankan housemaid has been jailed for six months after a court
convicted her of stealing jewellery worth Dh300,000 from an Emirati
family she worked for. The 34-year-old Sri Lankan housemaid, LT, wasted
12 years of good service with her Emirati sponsor when she decided to
carry out the heist. The Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the
defendant of stealing her sponsor’s jewellery.
“She worked for us for nearly 12 years during which we never had any
problem with her. She stole jewellery and cash and clothes,” the Emirati
sponsor said. “I am guilty. I robbed the jewellery,” said LT when she
appeared before the court.
The Emirati woman testified that she discovered that LT took the safe
keys and stole huge quantities of valuable jewellery on September 10.
“Her job was to clean, iron clothes and fix the house rooms with the
help of another housemaid. I kept the jewellery in a special safe in my
daughter’s bedroom. She found the keys to the bedroom and the safe.
Then she abused the fact that everybody was away at work in the
morning, she entered the room and stole the jewellery, the value of
which varied between Dh250,000 and Dh300,000. “A day before I discovered
the robbery, our neighbour’s housemaid visited us. She wanted to
dispatch some of her personal belongings with a courier company through
LT. “That was when I doubted that the defendant must have stolen my
Dh4,000. I had placed the money in a handbag but later it disappeared.
Later in the evening I checked the belongings that the defendant was
supposed to dispatch to her country, surprisingly I found my clothes and
jewellery hidden in her bags. “I also found in her possession the room
keys and the safe keys. When I confronted her, LT confessed that she
stole a huge quantity of jewellery,” claimed the sponsor. Records said
the defendant returned Dh2,500 and a golden bracelet to her sponsor. The
primary judgment remains subject to appeal within 13 days.
Courtesy: Gulf News
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