A UAE housemaid has been charged with sexually abusing her employer's one-year-old baby and endangering his life, UAE daily newspaper Gulf News reported on Sunday [Sep 23].
The case was brought forward when a father filed a complaint, saying that a surveillance tape seen by his wife caught their maid abusing their one-year-old baby.
It is claimed the maid waited for the boy's parents to leave home before taking her and the baby's clothes off and performing sex acts, the report said. At one point, the maid covered the baby's face with a pillow to stop him from crying, the report added.
The prosecutor accused the maid of raping the baby and endangering his life. When she was shown the film, she confessed to her crime.
Quoted by the semi-official daily Alittihad, a prosecution source said the maid faces up to 15 years in jail in line with the federal law meting out such punishment against crimes involving rape of people less than 14 years.
"The UAE deals firmly with anything that endangers children and harms them physically and psychologically…under the law, the parents bear the responsibility to protect their children against such dangers", the source said.
"The prosecution office is very much worried about the growing phenomenon of families relying heavily on maids to look after their children…the UAE law considers that parents leaving their child alone with a maid amounts to an act of endangering others' life…this crime is punishable under law".
A public prosecution official told Gulf News that the parents of the abused child will also be charged with neglect.
SOURCE: Gulf News
