A WOMAN was cleared of stealing BD2,032 worth of items from her place of work after she appealed the original sentence at the High Criminal Appeals Court.
The Filipina defendant was previously sentenced to a month behind bars by the High Criminal Court which found her guilty and also ordered she return the amount of BD2,032.
Defence lawyer Zainab Madan said the ‘accusation was fabricated and evidence was lacking’.
Defence lawyer Zainab Madan
The woman was also accused of stealing confidential client and customer information in addition to salon belongings which she denied.
However, she admitted to stealing a customer’s mobile phone in 2019 and pledged to not repeat the offence.
“The defendant works in a salon and she hasn’t been receiving her full-pay since the pandemic struck and when she asked for her wages the owner would try to seduce her in exchange for money which she would refuse,” said Ms Madan.
“She was even physically assaulted by the owner in front of a customer on one occasion in 2021 as he slapped her, pulled her hair and threw her out of the premises which is documented in a report at the Naim Police Station.
“The owner also accused her of breaking several Covid-19 precautionary measures in an effort to destroy the reputation of the salon as well as pushing clients to visit other establishments while claiming that products used were fake or expired.”
In her statement to the Public Prosecution, the defendant denied the charges and claimed that she found the mobile phone in the bathroom and forget to submit it to the owner while allegedly stealing beauty products from the salon.
The High Criminal Appeals Court accepted her appeal and overturned the original verdict and acquitted her of all charges.
“The court wasn’t satisfied with the witness statements that were conflicting as they said she was breaking Covid-19 protocols at one point, and another time she was stealing items from the salon which weren’t entered into evidence,” read the ruling.
“She was also accused of stealing confidential client information; however, the list she allegedly stole only included names and no phone numbers or other data.
“These conflicting statements created reasonable doubt.”
&uuid=(email))