A housemaid accused of knifing her boss to death and leaving the woman’s two-year-old daughter to die says she acted in self defence.

The 21-year-old Ethiopian is being held by police for the brutal double murder at the family’s Ras Al Khaimah apartment.

Prosecutors say she slaughtered her Moroccan employer and set the flat ablaze, leaving the toddler to die in the flames, before fleeing.

But consular representatives, who were with the suspect yesterday, say she claims she was trying to defend herself.

“She said she was trying to protect herself because the woman attacked her first,” a source close to the case told 7DAYS.

The Ethiopian Embassy is waiting to see official medical reports which show the victim suffered 70 stab wounds. “She says she did not stab the woman 70 times,” the source said.

Girl left to die
“We have not seen any of the reports from this part of the investigation yet,” he added.

Police said the maid confessed to the horrific killing, and to leaving the child in a burning apartment, during initial questioning following her capture in Sharjah hours after the incident on Saturday.

Ras Al Khaimah senior prosecutor Abdul Nasir Mohammad Al Shehi said: “She admitted that she stabbed her 70 times and then put her body and the little girl in a room, locked it and started a fire. She escaped after stealing jewellery and cash.”

Residents speak of their horror as mum and child slayed in their home
NEIGHBOURS of the murdered mother and toddler believed to have died at the hands of their housemaid have spoken of their shock at the killings.

Factory manager Raj, who lives in the flat next door to the family in a Ras Al Khaimah tower block, told 7DAYS: “I was on the phone to my wife when I heard the fire alarm go off. Then there were firemen banging on my door and telling me to get out. I can’t believe what happened. I saw them carry out the baby and there wasn’t a mark on her, she looked like she was sleeping. But then we were told she had suffocated from the smoke.”

Prosecutors say the 21-year-old Ethiopian suspect started working for the family ten days before the killings on Saturday.
They believe she had an argument with her 39-year-old employer and repeatedly stabbed her, before setting fire to the flat to destroy her bloodied clothes.

Father-of-three Raj said: “It’s hard to imagine. I saw her a couple of times and she seemed normal - a quiet girl, small, friendly with the baby. The daughter was always a happy child, she used to play in the corridor and bang on my door.”
The child lived with her mother and Emirati father in the one-bedroom flat.

Raj said the family had an older maid when he first met them last year but she had left.

“That’s when they got this one,” he said. “I never heard any fighting or screaming - not on that day and not on any day before that.” It is believed the family had lived in the apartment for several years.  

Abdulla Chamola, who owns Happy Family Store nearby, said the maid, the mother and the tot were regulars in his shop.  
He said: “Everyone is very upset. The baby used to play in the shop and smiled all the time, all the staff liked her.”

He added: “Her mum was also very nice.”

The maid is set to be quizzed by RAK prosecutors today.

nichola.jones@7days.ae