Mum beats maid on day of murder, son tells police

In a turn of events, a prosecution witness, on Wednesday, told the Criminal Court of Appeal in Ras Al Khaimah that an Arab woman murdered her housemaid with the help of her Emirati husband.
"The son of the woman admitted during police interrogation told that his mother beat the victim hard until she fell motionless on the floor," the witness, a Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officer with the RAK Police, affirmed.
The testimonies of the husband, who reported the domestic helper's death to the central operations room of the RAK police, are in utter contradiction, the witness added.
The RAK Criminal Court of First Instance had, in July, found the husband guilty of murdering the maid, and sentenced him to life in jail, but set his wife free from the charge in murdering the housemaid.
The RAK Public Prosecution had charged the man and his wife with beating up their domestic help with a hammer and hanging her to death from the ceiling fan of the latter's room. As per court records, the RAK Police was first alerted by the husband, staying at Al Fahleen area in Ras Al Khaimah, that his housemaid committed suicide in the sitting room.
Investigators initially suspected a crime behind the victim's death based on the spots of blood found at the scene. The case was referred to the public prosecution which charged the couple of beating the victim and hanging her to death.
"Police investigations show that the defendant, the wife had repetitively beaten up the victim due to her failure to do housework and duties as required," the CID noted, on Wednesday. The second prosecution witness, another CID officer with RAK Police, told the court that the victim started working with the family a year ago. "She was careless, lazy, and always got into trouble with her employee."
The witness also affirmed that one of the suspect's children, her son, admitted that his mother beat and kicked the victim the same day of the latter's death. "The maid fell to floor, and never got out of the house."
In his testimony, the forensic doctor and DNA expert with the RAK Police told the court that the victim succumbed to fatal injuries she received on her head, stomach and chest.
"As per the forensic report, the housemaid was beaten several times with a solid object, possibly a hammer, on different parts of her body, mainly on her head, stomach and chest."
Only three finger prints were collected from the scene, he added. "The first and second were from the defendant woman and her husband whereas the third spotted on the right hand of the victim was from an unidentified person."
The RAK Criminal Court of Appeal, however, ordered adjournment of the case after the defence lawyer submitted an attested waiver in which the victim's relatives willingly surrendered their right.
The court also ordered translation of the waiver in Arabic in order to be attached to the murder case file when hearing the pleading of the defence lawyer in the next session.
ahmedshaaban@khaleejtimes.com

• Ras Al Khaimah