Three men have been sentenced to five years in prison for trafficking a teenage girl and forcing her into prostitution.
Dubai Criminal Court heard how two of the trio, from Bangladesh, ran a brothel in the city, bringing in young girls from their home country with the promise of well paid jobs.
One defendant, aged 24, was convicted of raping the 16-year-old while the others, aged 26 and 31, were found guilty of running a brothel in Al Rafaa. All three were convicted of human trafficking.
“I was promised a job in a beauty salon but when I arrived at the apartment in Dubai, I met a woman there who told me I had been deceived and that I would be working in prostitution,” the girl told the court.
She told the men that she wanted to return home but was told she would need to pay Dh2,000 for the cost of her visa and flight.
“I had no money to pay them," she said. "Then they told me police had seized my passport and I had no other choice but to prostitute myself."
On September 15 last year, police raided a property in the Karama area of Dubai and arrested the three men.
“During the investigation we discovered that one of the defendants had sold her to one of the other two defendants in return for Dh8,000,” a policeman told the court.
The men have 15 days to appeal their guilty verdict before being deported from the UAE.
