'Gang tried to kill me,' grandmother tells court

A 64-year-old woman has told a court that a gang of robbers locked her in a villa, snatched her grandson from her arms then tried to suffocate her.

The Indian woman made the claims yesterday at the trial of two men and a woman accused of the robbery.

She said she was at her daughter’s home in Mirdif, Dubai, looking after her 18-month-old grandson when the door bell rang.

“I thought it was the boy who brings the water so I opened the door and the defendants pushed past me,” she said.

“They locked the door and tied me up with a scarf. I was on the ground yelling and resisting and they tried to tie me up with a bed sheet. One of them took the little boy.”

The grandmother said one of the robbers sat on her chest and put his hand over her mouth.

“I bit his fingers,” the woman said, “so he hit me and covered my face with another sheet until I fell unconscious.

“I was out for about 30 minutes. When I woke up I managed to free myself and searched the house for the boy.” She said she found her grandson in his room and that the robbers had made off with Dhs200,000 of jewellery.

The defendants, who include a maid who worked for the victim’s daughter, all deny robbery. The case has been adjourned.

ali.shouk@7days.ae