Six jailed for forcing maid into prostitution

Six human traffickers sentenced to five years in prison.

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DUBAI // Six men were today sentenced to five years in prison each for their roles in forcing a house maid into prostitution.

The men took advantage of a 31-year-old Filipina after she ran away from her Emirati sponsor's house when he objected to her visiting the grocery store without his permission.

One of the men - AN - found the maid somewhere to stay the night after her argument with her sponsor, but when she could not pay the bill told her she needed to work as a prostitute. He told her this was the only work she could take as her passport was still with her sponsor. The maid was told she would earn Dh50 for each man she slept with, the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance heard.

AN and another man then took her to a house in RAK and sold her to two men in Ras Al Khaimah. Three days later she was sold once more - with the help of a further two men - this time to a buyer in Dubai for Dh2,000.

In Dubai she was kept in a flat with a number of other prostitutes of various nationalities but was rescued after being offered for sale to a police informant for Dh5,000. Her ordeal lasted from January 23-31.

AN, 39, SK, 36, DK, 29, AM, 31, SP, 26, and NM, 28, all from India, were charged with human trafficking.

All of them will be deported following their prison terms.

salamir@thenational.ae