DUBAI // A maid working as a prostitute burnt her sleeping, drunk client to death by setting the sofa on fire after he refused to pay her, a court heard on Monday.
Bangladeshi Z M, 28, denied the charge of premeditated murder, telling the court that she left the house before the fire started. She said it was her first time sleeping with a man for money and admitted she stole two phones and gold jewellery because she had not been paid.
Her compatriot, R K, 25, pleaded not guilty to prostitution, while Indian B B, 25, was charged with providing prostitutes, but did not appear in court. Prosecutors said that on April 3 police were alerted to a body found in a burnt house in Al Muhaisnah.
Emirati policeman M M told prosecutors that two women were seen on security footage entering the house.
“At 4pm, the deceased and two other men entered the house, then one hour later two women entered the house,” he said.
“The men told us they called B B to get [them] women to sleep with and then they left the house with R K, while Z M stayed in the house with the deceased.”
The Bangladeshi maid told prosecutors that the Indian offered her the chance to earn more money as a prostitute.
“I agreed and went with R K to the house, then we slept with the men and I stayed home with [the victim] to have sex again, after the two men and R K left the house,” she said.
He was drunk, she said, and started arguing with her because she was receiving a lot of calls, which riled him.
“He refused to pay me, so when he slept, I took two phones, two gold rings and a necklace and left the house,” she said. CCTV footage showed the defendant leaving the house three minutes before the fire alarm started.
tzriqat@thenational.ae
