Maid blames Dh2.1m sponsor theft on men she let into Dubai villa to clean

Ethiopian tells Dubai court two of her countrymen are responsible for the theft and that police beat her to confess to the crime.

DUBAI // An Ethiopian maid denied stealing Dh1.4 million in cash and Dh700,000 worth of expensive watches from her sponsor, Dubai Criminal Court heard on Thursday.

“Two Ethiopian men I know did the stealing, and I said that to police but they beat me up and threatened to kill me if I did not confess and say what they wanted me to say,” the 26-year-old maid told judges.

Prosecutors said that on October 29 last year, the accused sent her Iranian sponsor a WhatsApp message telling her that the safe in her bedroom was missing.

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“I was in South Africa at the time so I called my brother, who lives in Dubai, and asked him to go to my home in Mirdif. When he went he told me the maid was gone, so he called police right away,” said the 31-year-old woman.

Prosecutors said that the maid told them during interrogations that she had let the two men in so they could clean the villa but then she saw them running out of the house. She said she asked the second man what was happening and he said he didn’t know. She claims she only later realised that the safe was gone.

A verdict is expected on March 13.