Sharjah – Housemaid’s sentence in prison was extended to 15 years for pouring acid on a three-year-old Emirati boy’s face in March 2015, the family’s lawyer said on Wednesday, August 31.
The court also ordered her to pay a fine of Dh270, 000 and to be deported after serving her sentence.
The family’s lawyer, Mohammad Al Owais, said that the Federal Supreme Court upheld the verdict issued by Sharjah Sharia Court of First Instance on Monday, August 29, which is three years only in jail and a fine of Dh270,000 and to be deported after serving her sentence. It was issued on on January 25, 2016.
The jail term was increased after the boy’s mother appealed the verdict at the Sharjah Appeals Court.
Medical reports showed the boy, Omar Yousuf Al Wafi, had third-degree burns to his face, legs, hands and body caused by acid. He suffered third-degree burns on different parts of his body and was taken to Al Qasimi hospital in March 2015. He would require plastic surgery.
Ameenah, the sister of Omar’s adoptive mother, told Gulf News that Omar was playing with her 10-year-old son and during play used a colour pen to draw on his [Omar’s] face. The maid came to take Omar away to wash his face, led him inside the house and poured acid on his body. Hearing the screams of the child, the family rushed inside and were shocked to see smoke rising from the boy’s body.
But the maid claimed the boy had poured acid on his body.
Ameenah, further shared that the maid had been working with the family for four years and had asked the family to extend her visa, but her visa was about to expire and she had only one month to complete her services. The family however had always treated her well and even recently raised her salary from Dh700 to Dh1, 000.
