Family maid 'saw bus driver slip out of 14-year-old's bedroom'

ABU DHABI // The family maid of a 14-year-old Brazilian girl who had sexual intercourse with the driver of her school bus saw the man slip out of the teenager's bedroom while the girl was having dinner, according to prosecution documents released yesterday. FR, from Sri Lanka, told prosecutors that on the evening of April 4 she had knocked on the girl's door to call her for dinner. The girl refused to allow the maid inside. Instead, she left the room and closed the door behind her, looking "confused".

The maid suspected the girl was hiding something, she told prosecutors. She watched the girl's room and saw the man leaving 45 minutes later. The maid then called the girl's parents and told them what she had seen. Other details released yesterday include a confession from the girl, which she retracted but which was presented in court. She said she took the man to her room while her parents were in Dubai and gave him a beer.

"She sat him on the bed and she fetched him a bottle of beer from the fridge and she started kissing him," prosecution records state. The teenager initially accused the 28-year-old school bus driver, MH, from Pakistan, of rape, but later withdrew the accusation. A medical examination more than a month after the incident found no evidence of rape. The girl and MH were both found guilty of consensual sex at the Abu Dhabi Criminal Court of First Instance.

The driver, who was already in custody, was sentenced to a year in prison and deportation. The girl was sentenced to six months and deportation, but remains on bail. Both have 15 days from Tuesday, the date of the convictions, to file an appeal. [e-mail]