Recruiter, employee sued over maid’s death

Hamza M Sengendo, Staff Reporter

A recruitment office owner and his female employee landed in court after a locked up maid jumped to her death.

The Arab businessman, 63, and a female Arab employee, 40, were charged with confining the maid to an apartment in Al Muraqqabat area and depriving her of her freedom until she decided to commit suicide.

The death incident happened on June 1, as per records at Al Muraqqabat Police Station. They stopped her from leaving the apartment, without a justifiable reason. They locked the apartment door from outside.

As a result, she ended up committing suicide. She threw herself from the building’s third floor and landed on the ground sustaining fractures and injuries that claimed her life.

Both denied the charges. The businessman contended, “I have a maids’ supply office. The maid was brought and handed to a sponsor. She moved from sponsor to another. Finally, she returned from the last sponsor.

“At around 10am on the date of the incident, I received a call from an employee that she committed suicide. I was not even aware she had returned to the apartment. I never issued any orders to lock the door.”

The employee argued, “I had no role in her death. I was not at the apartment. I just came to learn she had committed suicide.” The lawyer of the maid’s heirs asked for time to prepare and file a civil lawsuit.

Both defendants asked for time to find lawyers. The maid’s age and nationality were not disclosed during the court hearing. The Dubai Criminal Court’s jury set October 2 for the next hearing. On the record, a report from the department of forensic science and criminology confirmed the maid plummeted from a high-rise and landed on the ground sustaining grave injuries to the head, chest and stomach.

She succumbed to severe internal haemorrhage. A female worker said she and others walked out of the apartment. The employee in question who was the last person to walk out, locked the door while the maid was still inside.