Abu Dhabi prosecutors appeal against maid’s acquittal for sorcery

The maid's sponsor told the appeal court there were a number of suspicious incidents and she dreamt there was black magic in her house

ABU DHABI // Prosecutors are appealing against the acquittal of a maid who was accused of sorcery and black magic by her employers.

The Appeal Court heard that J F, from Ethiopia, was working for an Emirati family when a dispute arose about whose job it was to clean a garage.

The sponsor’s wife said: “I told her this is your job, not the other maid’s. She told me she would not clean [the garage] so I told her she could leave and does not have to work for me if she doesn’t want to.”

J F then insisted she wanted to go back to her home country.

The wife bought the maid an air ticket and said she would drive her to the airport.

“She refused to leave with me and said she was staying in the house,” the wife said. “I told her ‘you asked to leave and now you are refusing’, I will call the police if you insist.”

The police arrived as the maid was packing. They searched her bag and discovered strands of hair, white powder and a small book.

“When I showed it to police they said these are sorcery items and arrested her,” the wife said.

A report from the Islamic Affairs and Endowments Authority found the items were used in the practice of black magic and sorcery.

The maid, however, claimed they were simply for use in prayer rituals for her church.

J F was acquitted of the charges at the Court of First Instance but the public prosecution appealed.

Yesterday, the judge asked the wife if she had noticed any acts of witchcraft from J F.

“She used to work outside the house so I did not notice anything but there were two suspicious incidents,” she said.

She said a photo of her husband had gone missing from a frame. When the wife asked the maid about it, she replied: “Are you accusing me?”

Another time, J F was jailed for two nights. On that occasion the wife said she had found packs of frozen fish from their freezer hidden under the maid’s bed. “I also had a dream two days before the incident that there was black magic in my house,” the woman said.

She said that she did not want to press charges against J F, and simply wanted to cancel her visa and let her work for new employers. A verdict will be announced on May 21.