Emirati boy, 3, recovering from chemical attack in hospital

The maid who allegedly attacked the young boy with a 'chemical substance' has been arrested. Omar's mother has said she hopes the maid is given the 'maximum prison sentence'.

SHARJAH // The mother of an Emirati boy who was left severely burnt after a maid allegedly sprayed him with a chemical substance said she hoped the attacker was given the maximum possible prison sentence if found guilty of the crime.

The alleged attack happened last week when Omar, 3, was in the bathroom and the Indonesian maid attacked him with a chemical substance.

The adopted child suffered third-degree burns to his face, parts of his upper body and his legs and required plastic surgery to one of his eyes, according to his mother.

“More than half of his body is burnt with third-degree burns,” the Emirati mother claimed. “I hope she gets the maximum sentence in prison.”

The family were enjoying a get-together with other members of the family and the children were playing with each other before the alleged attack happened. The child was taken by the maid to the bathroom to get cleaned up.

“We heard the boy screaming and we rushed to the bathroom to see what had happened,” the mother said. “I saw my son getting burnt, while the maid stood still looking at him,” said his mother, who fell unconscious at the sight.

The boy was rushed to Al Qasimi Hospital.

The distraught mother said that the 25-year-old maid had been working at the family house for four years.

“Her contract ends in April, and [before the attack] she asked if we could extend it for another month.”

Omar’s father, Yousef Ahmad, said: “The maid was arrested by the police and confessed her crime and was referred to Sharjah public prosecution to face trial.”

According to the father, Omar has been in hospital for 12 days.

Doctors are waiting for his burns to heal so they can decide how to proceed with surgery to minimise the scarring.

The father said they had adopted Omar when he was just a few months old.

“We have a boy in school, and me and the mother decided to adopt to provide a normal life for a child in need.”

Rijal Al Huda, consul of affairs at the Indonesian embassy, said: “We didn’t receive any formal notification from anyone about this incident. We are currently trying to get information about the identify of the Indonesian suspect.”