Filipina maid cleared of death sentence for murdering UAE boss

The 30-year-old woman was given the death sentence in May 2015

A Filipino housemaid who has been on death row over killing her male boss in Al Ain, has been cleared of murder on appeal, according to the Philippines Ambassador to the UAE.
The 30-year-old woman was given the death sentence in May 2015 after the Al Ain Criminal Court of First Instance found her guilty of murder.
The Filipina, identified as Jennifer Dalquez, however appealed against the sentence with the help of officials from the Philippines Embassy.
And on Monday, the Appeal Court in Al Ain acquitted her for the murder charge and instead convicted her of stealing her employer's mobile phone.
Philippine Ambassador Constancio Vingno Jr said: "Jennifer was cleared of the murder charge. Also, she will not be paying blood money (Diyya) to the victim's family."
"Court however gave her five years in jail for stealing the mobile phone of her dead employer."
Filipina on death row for killing employer appeals sentence
The ambassador said he was happy that justice has been done.
"I am happy with the decision. Justice has been done. We had full trust in UAE's judicial system," Vingno told Khaleej Times on Tuesday.
"I am happy for Jennifer and her family. She has already served almost three years in jail and she will be serving less than two years now and then go back home and meet her family."
Ambassador Vingno said in a statement: "As clarified by the legal counsel, the calculation of one year imprisonment under UAE laws is equivalent to only nine (9) months, instead of our customary twelve (12) months computation.
"Thus, as of June 2017, Dalquez will only need to serve fifteen (15) months imprisonment. The Legal Counsel will appeal the judgment as regards the theft case to shorten the sentence."
Officials from the Philippines embassy in Abu Dhabi had provided Dalquez with a defence lawyer and other support throughout her trial.
Official court documents stated that the woman attacked the Emirati man at his home in Al Ain on December 7, 2014.
She had denied intentionally killing her boss.
Dalquez earlier told court that she attacked the man in self-defence because he tried to rape her and that she never meant to hurt or kill him.
The judge had earlier summoned the Emirati's children to come to court and swear before the court 50 times, in the name of Allah, that Jennifer Dalquez is the only person they know who killed their father and not any other person, before a final verdict was to be issued. But the children failed to appear in court.
Reaction from the Filipino Migrants group
The Migrante UAE joined the entire Filipino migrants around the world in rejoicing for saving the life of Jennifer Dalquiz in death Row.
"We thank the Government of UAE through its judiciary system for the fair resolutions of the case which removed Ms Dalquiz for the possible death penalty," said a statement from Migrante UAE.
"We keep on praying in the spirit of Ramadan, the UAE government will allow her to join her families in Philippines at earliest time. Her victory is a victory of each Filipino migrant and their families who are never tired of seeking justice."
ismail@khaleejtimes.com