Maid jailed for burglary after using mystery spray

A maid who burgled her employers' house is sentenced to six months in prison.

DUBAI // A maid found guilty of burgling her employers' house after putting a child and his grandmother to sleep with a mystery drug was today sentenced to six months in prison.

Her employers, an Indian salesman and his wife, left the maid to clean their house on March 9, 2009 - her first day of work.

The court heard that while they were out the Sri Lankan maid, 31, sprayed a strange-smelling substance in a room where their child was playing with his grandmother.

"She stood behind me and then I smelled a strange scent," said the grandmother, 52. "I asked her but she told me there was no strange smell."

She said she woke up 30 minutes later to find her grandson unconscious and the maid missing.

Also missing was Dh34,000 worth of jewellery and Dh18,000 in cash that the maid had stolen.

The grandmother then phoned her daughter, who reported the theft to Al Qusais police station.

Police arrested the maid on August 5, 2009, in Al Rashidiya and found some of the stolen jewellery in her room. She will be deported after completing her prison term.