Woman calls trafficking claim 'lies'

A woman charged with smuggling a 17-year-old Iraqi girl into the country to work as a prostitute said police had coached the girl with "lies".

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Dubai // A woman charged with smuggling a 17-year-old Iraqi girl into the country to work as a prostitute said police had coached the girl with "lies". The girl, ZA, testified in the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance yesterday that in 2005 her parents sold her to the woman, AA, for four million Iraqi dinars (Dh12,800, US$3,480). She was taken to AA's home in Ajman and for two months was forced to have sex with numerous men at private parties at villas in Dubai, the teenager testified.

Upon hearing the girl's testimony, AA, 45, told police God would not forgive them for their lies. The two officers testified that AA and her husband had been arrested at Sharjah airport while trying to take the girl to Bahrain on January 20. Public prosecution accused AA and her husband, RA, 52, of human trafficking and forgery. According to records, the girl was allegedly bought when she was 13.

The couple are accused of smuggling the girl into the UAE using a fake passport, claiming she was their daughter. Another Iraqi man, HM, 26, was charged with aiding and abetting a crime while his wife, BA, 25 is accused of failing to report the crime. Police say the girl was forced to have sex for Dh2,000 to Dh3,000 per night and was beaten. Advocate General Khalifa Rashid bin Deemas said in a statement that the victim is being housed at a women's shelter in Dubai.

* The National