Dubai man charged with human trafficking

A woman claims she was hired as a nanny, then forced into prostitution by the Indian man.

Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance
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DUBAI // A man has pleaded not guilty to human trafficking after he was charged with buying a woman for Dh2,000 (US$544). MM, 35, an Indian sanitary worker, appeared before the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance yesterday. The woman, DJ, from Indonesia, said she was lured to MM's apartment to work as a nanny, but was instead forced to work as a prostitute. "After we got to his house in Jumeirah, MM told me I would work as a prostitute and warned me that if I tried to escape he had men all over Dubai who would make trouble for me," DJ told prosecutors.

DJ said she arrived in the country in November 2006 and worked as a housemaid for five weeks before falling ill. Her sponsor insisted she continue working, so she took refuge at the Indonesian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, which provided her with medical care and arranged alternate employment with a different sponsor. After five months with her new sponsor, she again left, this time moving to Satwa, in Dubai, where a man identified as Jakat offered her work as a nanny with MM.

MM, however, held her against her will for six days, and told her he had purchased her to work as a prostitute. "I cried all the time, pleading with him to let me go but he refused," DJ said, adding that the house key was kept with MM's wife when he was away. Her ordeal came to an end after she was transferred to a house in Badaa, which was raided by police. DJ and two Pakistani men, who were customers at the brothel, were arrested.

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