Maid jailed for arson attack

An Ethiopian maid is jailed for three months for trying to burn down her Emirati sponsor's house and attacking the woman's son.

DUBAI // An Ethiopian maid has been jailed for three months for trying to burn down her Emirati sponsor's house and attacking her son. MS, 40, was accused of setting fire to a wardrobe full of clothes and striking her sponsor's 10-year-old son over the head with a blunt instrument before fleeing the scene. She pleaded guilty before the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance on Nov 6. During sentencing on Monday, she was also fined Dh1,000 and will be deported after serving her jail term.

According to prosecutors, MS went into her sponsor's daughter's room on July 30 and set fire to clothes hanging in the wardrobe. She then struck her sponsor's son, IN, on the head while he was asleep in his room. The blow woke the boy, who saw that the house was full of smoke. He ran out of the house to the home of his uncle, who put out the fire before it spread. The maid was arrested the next day after a friend called the family telling them that their maid was with him. He said the maid told him that the family had kicked her out of the house.