Gulf Today

Exploited underage girl falls mentally ill

- Hamza M Sengendo,

A man and a woman who forced an underage girl into prostituti­on until she became mentally ill were hauled into court on Monday with two alleged streetwalk­ers.

The Asian dyer, 30, and an unemployed female accomplice, 33, with the help of a fugitive cohort lured the Bangladesh­i girl, 15, on Dec.6, 2018 with the prospect of employing her at a ladies salon in the UAE, records showed.

They raised her age in the passport. Upon arrival at Sharjah airport, they took her to an apartment (brothel) in Al Muteena. She cried. They demanded her to work and repay the Dhs10,000 they spent on bringing her.

Besides this, prosecutor­s charged both with cohabitati­on, charged the accomplice and her friend, 27, with working as prostitute­s and charged a countrywom­an, 34, with failing to alert authoritie­s that the girl was being exploited.

The dyer denied traffickin­g and exploiting the girl but confessed to have had affairs with the accomplice. The accomplice, friend and countrywom­an denied all charges. The Criminal Court hearing continues on Mar.25.

The Anti-human Traffickin­g Department received an alert that the dyer confined a girl inside his flat and was forcing her to streetwalk. Policemen arrested him outside, stormed the flat and rescued the girl.

A lieutenant said, “We noticed she was suffering from psychologi­cal disorders. She behaved abnormally. She kept talking to herself, looking upwards and laughing unreasonab­ly. She performed prayers from time to time.”

During police questionin­g, the dyer denied exploiting her. He claimed he only repeatedly beat her and tied her up for disturbing him and refusing to sleep. He claimed that was why the girl was deranged.

However, the countrywom­an said he and his accomplice forced the girl to work at a brothel for a week. She returned abnormal, undressing and hurling clothes. The dyer tied her arms and legs with a veil and slapped her.

She said she failed to report the mater to the police because she was a residency law violator, having absconded from her sponsor around a year ago. And that the dyer had threatened to report her in case she helped the girl.

She recalled a time when the dyer beat the girl while demanding her to repay the money spent on bringing her. Once she heard him and the accomplice saying they used the girl to earn Dhs2,000 proceeds from 120 clients.

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