Emirati housewife sentenced to 15 years in jail for torturing her Ethiopian and Filipina maids

A United Arab Emirates court on Monday sentenced an Emirati housewife to 15 years in jail for torturing her Ethiopian and Filipina maids.

 

The Ethiopian maid died after she was forced to drink pesticide and developed pneumonia due to her infected wounds, UAE-based news site Gulf News reported.

 

In its decision, the Dubai Court of First Instance also found the housewife prevented the Ethiopian from “getting proper and timely medication” for her infected wounds.

 

The Filipina maid, 30, was also unfed and locked up in the housewife's Al Rashidiya residence for more than a month.

 

Judge Urfan Omar likewise sentenced the housewife to another month and fined her Dh2,000 for beating a third maid.

 

The court also ordered the Emirati's husband jailed for three years for allegedly aiding his wife by preparing a room with sealed windows at the top of the villa for the maids.

 

But the couple pleaded not guilty.

 

The Gulf News report quoted the court as saying the couple was responsible for the Ethopian's death "because they prevented the victim from having proper and timely medication to treat the wounds that became infected and developed into pneumonia.”

 

In her testimony, the Filipina said the housewife would beat them with sticks while they were naked, and would bang their heads against the wall until they bled.

 

“She did not feed us properly and locked us up for long periods. She beat us with sticks until they broke on our bodies. She constantly threatened to send me to jail because her husband worked in the court. Her brutality and torture made me consider absconding… but I failed to do so because we were confined all the time. She prevented me from calling my parents," she said.

 

Also, she said the housewife also forced them to drink detergent, adding they would go so hungry they would search for food in the dustbin.

 

The Filipina said the housewife once forced her to drink bleach mixed with Dettol because she did not like the way she cleaned the bathroom.

 

“She beat us brutally until we bled. She used to remove our clothes and force us into the washroom where she would take pictures of us naked and threaten to send them to our friends," she said.

 

Source : GMA News