Homemaker books hotel room in disguise

Ihab Atta, Imad Eddin Khalil, Staff Reporters

The Dubai Criminal Court sent a 33-year-old African homemaker to jail for three months with suspension, to be followed by deportation on charges of booking a hotel room with the ID card of another woman, disguising in a wig.

An Arab receptionist, 37, at the hotel, testified that while he was working at the hotel, the suspect, who was wearing a wig, presented him an ID card to book a room.

The witness added that by checking the card data, he discovered that another woman used it before to book the same room during the same month, and stole Dhs8,000 from a roommate.

Immediately, the witness contacted the hotel account manager.

When the suspect saw him coming, she fled and the wig fell off her head, but she was caught by the hotel security guards.

In another event, the Abu Dhabi appellate court on Wednesday heard the case of an Asian charged with insulting, beating and attempting to kill a relative. Details of the case date back to earlier when the suspect stabbed the victim with a knife. The Court of First instance overturned the charge of attempted murder.

The suspect denied the charges saying it was the victim who stabbed him with the knife after an argument between them because the victim refused to go to work.

He added that the victim waived the case and submitted the waiver to the Court of First Instance, but the court told him there was no waiver among the case papers. He was instructed to bring the waiver certified by the notary or bring the victim before the court.

The defendant told the court the victim was outside the country.

The court adjourned the case to Wednesday 21.

Last month, a  26-year-old African visitor was sentenced to six months in prison to be followed by deportation over stealing Dhs86,000 from an Asian tourist with the help of two others in a massage centre.

The details of the case go back to the time when the victim was in Naif area to buy some electrical appliances from a shop, where he was told to wait two hours until the goods were processed. He preferred to walk around the area instead of waiting in the shop. While roaming, he was offered a massage session by the defendant. He agreed and accompanied her to a flat which he found portioned by curtains.