Five years each for men who forced UAE maid into prostitution

Five men who forced a maid into prostitution are sentenced to five years in prison each.

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DUBAI // Five men who forced a maid into prostitution have been sentenced to five years in prison each.

The woman, 30, from Bangladesh, broke her back when she fell while trying to escape from the brothel by climbing down a drain pipe.

She came to the UAE to work as a maid for an Emirati family in Fujairah before absconding. A second maid in that house gave her the telephone number of a man who she said could help her find another job.

She was picked up by a man who took her to a flat and locked her up for nine days before telling her she would now work as a prostitute.

"When I refused, I was beaten and raped," recalled the maid.

She was then moved to another apartment where the brothel was located. After about 45 days in captivity, on October 6 last year, the woman waited until her supervisor visited the toilet and climbed out of an open window of the third-floor flat.

She lost her grip and fell to the ground, losing consciousness.

She woke up in Rashid Hospital with multiple spine fractures and told police of her ordeal.

Police raided the brothel and arrested five Bangladeshi men.

The Criminal Court found AA, 29, and SA, 24, guilty of human trafficking and illegally imprisoning the woman. NH, 26, SAA, 32, and AH, 28, were found guilty of aiding and abetting them. AA, AS, NH, and AH were also charged with promoting sin by inviting customers to the brothel.

They will be deported after completing their jail terms.