DUBAI // A mortuary worker has been jailed for two years for stealing from the pockets of the dead while they were there.
The man, a Dubai Police forensics employee, was convicted of stealing cash and possessions from two bodies.
EA, a 38-year-old with a passport from the Comores Islands, had the job of receiving corpses at the mortuary and delivering any belongings to their families.
On July 7 last year, EA stole Dh4,035 cash from LS's wallet, two gold rings, a wristwatch and a silver bracelet. On the same day, records show, he also stole about Dh2,000 from MA's body.
EA's supervisor said he received a complaint after LS's belongings were reported missing when the body was handed over to the Indian consulate.
A Dubai Police captain told the public prosecutor that EA had denied the accusations when he was first interrogated, but confessed after he was presented with the evidence.
He was charged with abusing his power as a public official and the theft of cash and other valuables from the two deceased, LS and MA. To make an example of him, prosecutors said they charged him with two separate cases of theft to compound his sentence.
Judge Hamad Abdel Jawad of the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance sentenced EA to a year in jail for stealing from LS, and another year for stealing from MA. He also order EA to pay Dh4,035 to LS's family, and Dh2,000 back to MA's.
