DUBAI // A young woman who came to the UAE to work as a hotel executive was locked up, beaten and forced to work in prostitution, a court has been told. HM, 20, from Morocco, was lured to the Emirates with the offer of employment but after she arrived she was locked in an apartment in Al Nadha and told she had been rejected by her future employee. She was then told she had to work as a prostitute and was beaten when she refused, Dubai Court of First Instance heard.
Two men and a woman, Lebanese businessman MM, 24, Morocco sales woman AS, 25, and Egyptian manager AM, 35, are charged with illegal confinement and human trafficking. They deny the charges. When the accused were arrested, police said that ledgers, passport copies and pornographic photographs of Moroccan girls were found in their possession. MM and AS trafficked the girl into the country and attempted to force her to sleep with men for cash, according to prosecutors. AM, who posed as a talent manager, issued the work visas.
The woman said she plotted her escape with another girl in the apartment where she stayed. The pair were sent to a client in a Dubai hotel but as they arrived they contacted another Moroccan woman known by HM and told her of their situation. The woman housed them for four days before taking them to a police station to make a report. The case was adjourned until next month. amustafa@thenational.ae
