Workers on trial for trying to sell woman

dubai — A Bangladeshi worker, who allegedly lured a compatriot housemaid to abscond from her sponsor in Abu Dhabi and later forced her into prostitution with his countryman, was charged with human trafficking and rape at the Court of First Instance.

According to Public prosecution records, the 28-year-old man encouraged and helped the maid to abscond from her sponsor. He lured her with a better job and then locked her up in two flats where he forced her to work for him. It was like that until he offered her to a police informant for Dh2,800.

The arrest was made on November 21, 2016.

The 31-year-old maid said she had been working for her sponsor for more than a year and a half when the first accused called her. “He told me my salary was low and there were other maids making more money by working by the hour system. He helped me run away and then took me to a flat in the International City. I saw two Bangladeshi women and learned they were prostitutes”.

The victim said she refused to work for him in prostitution for the first 10 days. “He told me he would force me into it and would not pay me. I had to obey him after he slapped me all over with his hands and shoe.”

The victim worked in prostitution for three months until the two men got caught. “He had called me to go with his assistant to a flat to meet a man. He later called to tell me to go down the building and ride in a car. They were both arrested by the police.” She told the cops the main accused raped her.

“We had information that an Asian man was about to sell a woman for Dh2,800. After verifying it was true, we obtained a prosecution warrant for arrest and search of that suspect.

We provided our source with the money and a tape recorder,” a police lieutenant said.

“Our source met the suspect in the Chinese cluster. The latter rode with him and led him to the English cluster where he called his partner to bring the woman.

The victim was brought and rode in the informant’s car. Police officers raided the car and arrested the accused right after he collected the money from the source.

Both the defendants claimed to the police that the victim worked willingly in prostitution. They were both illegals. The flats they were running as brothels were raided and prostitutes were apprehended.