Woman cries as she relives entrapment

DUBAI // A woman broke down and wept yesterday as she told a court she was forced to work as a prostitute after travelling to the UAE on the promise of work as a waitress.

The Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance heard the 27-year-old Filipina testify that she was approached in her homeland by a man who offered her a job in a restaurant in Dubai through a woman identified as AA.

Prosecutors charged AA with human trafficking and prostitution. She denied both charges.

The 27-year-old said she arrived in Dubai on April 5 and was told she would have to pay back about Dh19,000, which AA said she paid to bring her to the UAE.

She testified that AA took her from the airport and seized her passport. The same day, AA told her she would work as a prostitute and that if she refused, she or her family would die.

AA then began taking pictures of her in lingerie and sending them to potential customers, records show.

After being forced into several sex acts, the woman said, she escaped with the help of a relative in Dubai and reported the crime to police.

The case continues on July 10.

salamir@thenational.ae