Dubai:
A 27-year-old South Asian domestic help has been charged with theft in a court in Dubai for stealing her employer's SIM card and making international phone calls worth more than USD 2,000.
The owner of the SIM, a 27-year-old Emirati police officer, continued receiving bills totalling USD 2022.87 for August and September months on a card believed to be lost.
"My brother lost a SIM card, but since it was not registered in his name, he did not file a police complaint. He did not report it lost and did not apply for a substitute either," the complainant was quoted as saying by the Khaleej Times newspaper.
"We asked the domestic help whether she used that SIM card and she denied having used it. But a statement of calls from Etisalat showed there were calls made to Bangladesh," he said.
Two other domestic helps, both Ethiopians, who work in the same house, confirmed to the family that the accused did in fact have a mobile phone which she used to call her family in Bangladesh.
According to these domestic helps, the accused claimed that her brother had given her the phone and the SIM card.
"She also let the other domestic helps call their families in Ethiopia. But they did not know at that time that the card was stolen," the complainant added.