Defendant was impregnated by her ex-sponsor before police busted her trying to sell baby for Dh10,000
Dubai: A maid who tried to sell her two-week-old baby daughter conceived out of wedlock, for Dh10,000, has been jailed for six months.
The Ethiopian maid, 30, flew into the UAE in 2013 and worked for an Emirati family before she absconded in 2017.
After working in several places for about six months, her friend introduced her to an Emirati man, for whom she started working as a maid.
Shortly after, the man took her to a flat in Dubai where he locked her up for some time, during which he had consensual sex with her.
Records said the Emirati then gave her Dh500, dropped her off by car in a street and asked her to leave.
The defendant later discovered that she was pregnant and her compatriot friend, 28, and also a maid, convinced her to sell the baby.
An informant alerted the police that the two Ethiopian women were looking for someone to sell the baby girl to, for Dh10,000.
The two women were apprehended in a sting operation.
On Sunday, the Dubai Court of First Instance jailed the defendant to six months in jail for child trafficking.
Presiding judge Fahd Al Shamsi jailed her 28-year-old friend to three months in jail for abetment.
Prosecutors said the mother had stripped herself of humanity and motherhood and committed a human trafficking crime, when she decided to sell her own daughter in collaboration with the friend.
The defendants pleaded not guilty in court.
According to Sundays ruling, the two women will be deported.
A police lieutenant said an informant alerted them that a woman, who had conceived out of wedlock, wanted to sell her baby.
“We provided the informant with Dh10,000 as part of a sting operation. The informant communicated with the mother and they agreed to meet in Al Ghusais. Shortly after the mother collected the Dh10,000, the police raided the spot and apprehended the two defendants. During questioning, the mother admitted that after she absconded, the Emirati man for whom she worked got her pregnant out of wedlock. The accused, 30, said the Emirati man gave her Dh500, left her alone in the street before she discovered that she had become pregnant,” he testified.
An Emirati housewife said her cousin told her that her ex-husband [the Emirati man] had told them that a maid [the suspected mother] wanted to get rid of her illegitimate child. “He also told them that he was not sure whether the baby was his or not. I went to Ajman to check on the babys health. When we were leaving a clinic, I told the suspect to give me the child and I would take care of her and raise her. At first, the 30-year-old refused and then she asked for money to give away her baby girl. I notified the police who arrested the suspect in a sting operation,” she said.
The ruling remains subject to appeal.
