DUBAI // A 43-year-old driver said he did not use sorcery to steal money from the family that employed him, a Dubai court heard yesterday.
M?P, from India, is charged with stealing Dh5,000 and a Nokia mobile phone from his employer’s son, J?M, after the family first suspected his guilt when they found notes containing talismans in his wallet.
Talismans, which are usually worn as a piece of jewellery somewhere on the body, are words believed by their carrier to have certain mystical powers.
J?M told the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance yesterday that many strange events happened at the family residence, and all of his family suffered on different occasions from sudden spasms or even fainted for no obvious medical reason.
“We all underwent medical check-ups and nothing wrong was found with any of us,” J?M said in testimony.
He added that the family brought people to their house to recite verses of the Quran and the defendant, who had worked for the family for 12 years, seemed very nervous and tense when they did so.
The family searched the driver and found the papers. When they asked him about them, he said they were written to bring him good luck and money.
J?M said the family called the police, who searched M?P’s room and found the mobile phone and the money. The stolen items had gone missing about 20 days before the report was filed, on February 2, J?M added.
M?P denied stealing the phone, saying he found it in the garden of the villa and kept it until someone asked for it. He said the money belonged to him and he did not steal it.
N?A, a police officer, said in his court testimony that officers found more papers containing words of sorcery in the driver’s room.
A verdict is expected on Sunday.
salamir@thenational.ae
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Featherweight
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Super heavyweight
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This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.
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