Maid who survived deadly fight to be mentally assessed

DUBAI // The maid who stabbed and killed her co-worker with a meat skewer during a fight has been shifted to a mental ward for assessment, police said today.

Police have asked for a medical report to determine her mental condition before questioning her about the incident. She was taken out of the intensive-care unit of the hospital on Monday after her physical condition stabilised, but she remains in unstable mental condition, police said.

She tried to hurt herself in hospital, police said.

"We have requested the doctors to analyse her mental condition as she is still unstable psychologically," said Col Ali Ghanem, director of the Bur Dubai Police station.

The fight took place between the two women, both Ethiopians in their early 20s, on Sunday morning inside their employers' laundry in a Bur Dubai villa.

The dead woman was identified as HSS. The woman in hospital was identified as FYA. Police said HSS was stabbed with a meat skewer to several parts of her body, while FYA was stabbed with a knife.

Police found the two women lying in their blood after breaking down the room's door, which had been locked from the inside. They were transferred to Rashid Hospital, but HSS died on the way.

Authorities still did not know what caused the fight between the two women, who worked in the same household along with 10 other maids, but police said there were no previous fights between the two.

"We are not able to question her due to her bad mental condition," Col Ghanem said. "We have to wait for the medical report before we can determine the method of questioning her."

wissa@thenational.ae