A worker who persuaded a maid to abscond from her employer then forced her into prostitution was jailed for five years on Sunday.
The 28-year-old Bangladeshi defendant was convicted of human trafficking at Dubai Criminal Court and will be deported after serving his sentence. His co-accused countryman, 22, was found not guilty.
Prosecutors told the court that the pair made contact with the maid last year but it was not clear how they got to know her. The maid, a 21-year-old Bangladeshi, said she arrived in the UAE two years ago but last year was approached by one of the defendants, who asked about her salary.
“He told me other women work per hour and make much more money,” she said.
That persuaded her to flee the home where she worked and she was taken to an apartment in International City, where she met two countrywomen who told her she would be working in prostitution, like them.
“I refused to do so for about 10 days but then I was beaten into it and worked for nearly three months before I was arrested in a car with a customer,” she said.
A police lieutenant testified that they received a tip-off about one of the defendants offering the victim for sale in return for Dh2,800.
“The defendant was kept under observation and was arrested in a sting operation on November 24 last year after an undercover policeman posed as the buyer. The victim was not aware she was being sold; she thought she was with a customer,” said the policeman.
After the arrest, police raided the brothel where the victim was kept and five women were found there with birth control pills and other items used in prostitution. The second defendant was also arrested there.
The accused pair denied forcing their countrywoman into prostitution and told the court that she was doing it willingly. It was not revealed why the second defendant was found not guilty.
The man convicted can appeal his sentence within two weeks.
