Maid tries to sell love child for Dh10,000 to undercover Dubai cop

Dubai - The baby's father, together with the maid, have been accused of illicit sex.

A housemaid, who offered to sell her newborn love child for Dh10,000 to an undercover policewoman, has been sentenced to six months in jail by a Dubai court on a human trafficking charge.
The 30-year-old Ethiopian mother had a countrywoman accomplice, a 28-year-old maid, who helped her in trying to sell the baby girl. The accomplice has been equally found guilty of the human trafficking charge. She received a three-month jail term.
The two women will be deported upon completion of their jail time, as per the Court of First Instance ruling.
The baby's father, who is at large, has been referred to the Court of Misdemeanors together with the maid, both accused of illicit sex.
The main defendant - the first maid - had denied the charge at the court claiming she was just in desperate need of money as she was staying illegally in the country.
The other maid claimed she had nothing to do with it.
A police lieutenant said: "We had reliable information that an Ethiopian woman had been trying to sell her two-week-old baby for Dh10,000. We sent a policewoman to meet the maid as a potential buyer."
During interrogation, the first maid said she arrived in the UAE about five years back and worked for an Emirati family for 10 months before absconding. She worked illegally ever since until she met an Emirati man and lived with him. When she got pregnant, he left her on the road after giving her Dh500.
She asked him later to provide for his daughter. He came to see her with another woman (the one who informed the police) and then left.
The divorcee of the baby's father said she heard on August 28, 2017 that her ex-husband had a daughter with a maid out of the wedlock and the latter wanted to get rid of the baby. "I was worried that something wrong might happen to the baby. I met the maid and then took the baby to a clinic in Ajman to check on her health.
"I informed the police when the maid told me she would give her to me for an amount of money. I just wanted to take the child to take care of her and raise her, not buy her," said the 43-year-old housewife.
The maid was later caught red-handed by the police in Al Qusais and the money was found with her. She alleged her bad financial condition was behind what she did.
The other housemaid, who was caught with the main defendant, said she only went with her, on the day she offered to sell her child, as the mother was in a poor mental state. 
Both housemaids, who are detained, can appeal the conviction orders within 15 days from the issuance date.
mary@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai