DUBAI // A prostitute who was desperate to return home to see her sick mother handed herself in to police to be deported.
The Moroccan, 24, told Dubai Criminal Court she had no option but to turn herself in after she was told by her family that her mother was severely ill.
“I was told my mother was very sick and I didn’t know what to do and how to return home because I had been living here illegally after my visa expired,” she said.
“So I went to police and turned myself in. Either way I would have been arrested at the airport.”
The woman walked into the Bur Dubai police station on March 1 this year. When questioned by police, she admitted to working as a prostitute and running a website to find clients.
“I charged customers Dh1,000 to Dh1,500,” she said.
In court this month she admitted to charges of prostitution, launching and managing a website promoting sex services and drinking alcohol.
The court sentenced her to six months in jail for prostitution and drinking alcohol. She was sentenced to another month for overstaying her visa.
The court also ordered the website be shut down. She will be deported after serving her prison term.
salamir@thenational.ae
