Housewife who assaulted maid has her sentence reduced

A housewife who bit her maid, shoved scissors in her ears and poured boiling water over her as punishment, has had her sentence reduced.

On February 8 this year, Dubai Criminal Court sentenced the Jordanian woman, 33, to a year in jail after finding her guilty of physical assault and of causing a permanent disability to the 28-year-old Indonesian maid, who lost the hearing in one ear.

The accused told judges she had not assaulted the maid. But her maid said that since she started working for the woman in 2013, she had been subjected to various forms of abuse.

“For the slightest mistake, she would hit me with her hands, a knife, scissors, sticks and sometimes bite me, pull my hair and other times pour boiling water on my body.

“I came to this country in good health to work in a decent job and make money to help my family and now I return home with a disability.”

A medical report said the maid had lost the hearing in her left ear after her head was banged against a wall. She was often locked in her room.

In January 2015, she escaped and went to the Indonesian consulate in Dubai, informing them of her ordeal.

“She arrived on a Thursday and said she had run away because her boss was abusing her physically, and didn’t even give her any wages for the time she worked at her house,” a consulate employee told prosecutors.

The maid was taken to Rashid Hospital for treatment. Bruises, burn marks and other signs of abuse were found on her body and head, as well as bite marks on her shoulders.

The lower court sentenced the woman to a year in jail, to be followed by deportation, but she filed an appeal.

Her sentence was reduced to three months in jail by Dubai Court of Appeal, which also cancelled the deportation order. Reasons for the more lenient sentence were not made available.