A man who sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl after spiking her drink during a night out in Dubai has been handed an eight-year jail sentence.
The Bangladeshi citizen, 36, was said to have won his teenage compatriot's trust by buying her a mobile phone before inviting her to join him at a night club.
She told prosecutors she woke up the next day in his bedroom, believing he had raped her while she was under the influence of an unknown substance.
The court heard the girl had been staying with her aunt in Dubai after moving to the Emirates from her homeland.
But when her relative was arrested, she found herself under the care of the defendant.
The man sexually assaulted the girl and forced her to work as a prostitute.
She managed to flee the apartment she was being kept captive in Al Qusais on August 1 of last year, taking a taxi to a police station in the emirate.
The man was arrested by police in Al Nahda area and was charged with forceful sexual assault and human trafficking.
He denied the charges in court last March but was found guilty at a hearing on Monday at Dubai Criminal Court.
He was sentenced to five years in prison for human trafficking and a further three years behind bars for sexual assault.
The sentence can be appealed within 14 days.
