A housemaid landed in court seven years after she had stolen Dh200,000 worth of valuables from her former sponsor, who had cancelled her residency and made her leave Dubai in 2010.

The Emirati female sponsor had accompanied her sick mother on a medical trip abroad in June 2010 and during that time, the 35-year-old Sri Lankan maid was believed to have stolen the valuables.

When the sponsor was abroad, she received a call from her sister, who informed her, according to records, that she had received telephone bills for calls made to Sri Lanka.

The two sisters agreed not to create any problems for the suspected maid and decided to cancel her visa and labour contract and sent her back home in August 2010.

Records said the sponsor later lodged a police complaint, in which she alleged that the 35-year-old maid had stolen valuables worth around Dh200,000 from her residence.

Believed to have been apprehended at the Dubai International Airport when she returned to the UAE, the Sri Lankan maid was accused of theft.

According to the charges sheet, prosecutors said the suspect stole several gold items, diamonds, pieces of valuable jewellery and wristwatches.

The suspect pleaded not guilty and refuted the theft accusation when she defended herself before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Thursday.

The sponsor told prosecutors: “My sister had lost her mobile phone … when I was abroad with my mother. She told me over the phone that she had received bill for the phone calls that she did not make to Sri Lanka. I told her not to discuss the issue with the suspect. We returned to the UAE in August and cancelled the suspect’s visa because we did not want her to keep her with us any more as she may steal more things. After she left the country, we found in the kitchen some receipts showing that the suspect had sold some gold and jewellery items and sent some stuff to Sri Lanka. On checking our belongings we found a large number of valuable items had been missing … then I reported the matter to the police.”

A ruling in the case will be announced on April 27.

source:  GULF NEWS