DUBAI // A man and a woman were both sentenced to 10 years in prison each after the court found them guilty of human trafficking that included forced prostitution.
MB, 25, and the female defendant NT, 38, victimised a 20-year-old woman and forced her to have sex with men for money.
The victim was unable to answer the court’s questions when she appeared in February because she could not stop crying.
Judge Mounir Fahmi Mounir at the Dubai Court of First Instance told the defence lawyer cross-examining MA, “She is crying so hard that she can't talk.”
The victim and another woman, both from Bangladesh, were lured into the country by MB and NT. They were locked up in an apartment in Naif area, beaten and forced into prostitution.
Both MB and NT denied the charges in court.
A third defendant, who was not identified in records, is said to have been behind the prostitution ring.
Records said he fled the country on August 23, the same the day the victims ran away and reported the crime to police.
Prosecution records said the victims were approached in Bangladesh by a man who knew MB and NT, and offered them maid jobs in Dubai.
They arrived at Dubai International airport and were met by MB, who took their passports, entry permits and tickets before driving them to an apartment in Deirai.
According to records she was locked up in the apartment, where she was beaten and forced to have sex with MB and other men.
“NT blackmailed me to pay her Dh20,000 to let me go,” the woman told prosecutors.
In August, MA told the defendants she was sick and needed to see a doctor, records show. She added that when she was taken to a hospital, she ran away and sought the help of a shopkeeper, who called police.
MB and NT will be deported after serving their prison terms.
salamir@thenational.ae
