Employer accused of raping maid while wife was in hospital

Despite the Indonesian maid begging and trying to talk her sponsor round, she claims he raped her on the floor of his room.

DUBAI // A sponsor has been accused of raping his maid while his wife was in hospital.

Dubai Criminal Court heard on Wednesday that Emirati RA, 29, called on the 30-year-old Indonesian maid to iron his kandura in his room early on the morning of November 27 last year.

“I was preparing breakfast to take to his hospitalised wife so I asked him to bring his clothes to the kitchen and I will have them ironed,” testified the maid.

She said he insisted that she do the job in his room. When she walked into the room, he locked the door and took away the key. Anticipating danger, the woman tried to take refuge in the bathroom but RA managed to grab her and throw her to the ground. He twisted both her arms then sat on her abdomen and raped her, she said.

“I begged him repeatedly, I reminded him he was married, asked him how would he feel if someone did the same offence to his wife, I told him I was married, I begged him, but in vain,” said the victim.

She told prosecutors that RA often groped her since she arrived in the country to work for him six months ago.

“He would come to my room, hug me and touch my breast,” she said. “I told him that I would scream so he used to leave me, but this time no one was in the house — the other two maids were in the outside kitchen.” Prosecutors said that, after raping the woman, RA forced her to take Dh200.

“I refused but he said he would kill me, and would break my arm,” the maid said.

The other maids could tell something was up and when they were told the story, they advised their colleague to run away.

However, she was caught by her employer as she tried to leave and he again threatened to kill her, according to the maid.

The woman then managed to call her embassy, which told he to call police.

Police took the women to the station to document her statement and open a case file.

The defendant was not present to face a rape charge, so the court ordered his arrest. The next hearing will be on February 16.