DUBAI // A hairdresser who held two Ministry of Labour inspectors hostage in a salon for 20 minutes has been jailed for six months.
Ethiopian Y S, 30, locked the door of the salon, in Al Muraqqabat, while Emiratis A A and Z K were visiting on January 28. They had received a tip-off about an illegal resident. She told Dubai Criminal Court on Thursday that she had been assaulted on a previous visit by inspectors, hence her reaction.
A A said: “Once we entered the salon, me and inspector Z K found the illegal resident sitting alone inside the salon. The defendant, Y S, was not in the salon and came in few minutes later.
“Once the defendant entered the salon, she asked us who we were and we identified ourselves to her. We showed her our identification after she requested it from us – immediately after that she went and locked the door.”
Y S told the inspectors that she would not let them leave the salon until the owner arrived.
A A called police and they arrived 20 minutes later.
“While we were held hostage by the defendant, Y S kept saying that the illegal resident was her relative, and that she didn’t work in the salon, she only came in with her to the salon,” A A said. “She never mentioned to us that she was attacked by other inspectors.”
The court found the hairdresser guilty and sentenced her to six months in prison, followed by deportation.
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