An Ethiopian female worker, who was caught with QR31,617 at the Doha airport, has been sentenced to a year’s imprisonment and subsequent deportation. The court heard that she was on her way out of the country on December 9 last year, after seven months of service in a shop, when she was stopped at the airport. After the police found the cash in her luggage, the African was questioned about source of the money. She told the police that she had stolen the money from the shop in the Rayyan area where she worked. The sponsor was called to claim his money and the woman said that her Nepali colleague encouraged her to steal. The Ethiopian (21) said that she took the money during several occasions in November and December. Her Nepali colleague (27), who had worked in the shop for almost eight years, was charged in the case as the second accused, but he was acquitted by the Doha court of first instance for lack of evidence linking him with the theft. The lawyer of the Ethiopian claimed that her arrest was illegal as she was searched without permission. However, the court said that it was the right of the law enforcement personnel to question her about the source of the money. The judges said that the woman answered the questions under normal circumstances, without pressure. Acquitting the Nepali, the court ruled that the woman’s confession against him was not convincing and that he should enjoy the benefit of doubt. One-year prison term for molesting housemaid A 27-year-old man has been sentenced by a Doha court of first instance to a year’s imprisonment for molesting, under the influence of liquor, a Filipina housemaid in her sponsor’s house. He was additionally slapped with a fine of QR2,000 for drunkenness in public. The incident took place in the morning of September 9 last year in the Khartiyat area. According to the plaintiff, the Filipina’s sponsor, he woke up hearing the maid’s screams from the kitchen. “When I went there, I found the accused trying to abuse the maid.” The defendant’s lawyer argued that his client suffered from mental disorder and pleaded to dismiss the case. However, the court rejected the request and went ahead with the trial. Denying the charge, the accused told the court that he was standing outside the house waiting for a friend, “who told me that this house belonged to him. When I entered the house, the maid shouted at me and her sponsor came in.” Explaining the conviction, the court adopted the plaintiff’s testimony saying that it was reliable. http://gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=388394&version=1&template_id=36&parent_id=16

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