DUBAI // A 16-year-old girl fell pregnant after being forced to work as a prostitute by her mother.
The victim’s 42-year-old Pakistani mother denied a human trafficking charge when she appeared at the Dubai Criminal Court.
A 50-year-old Pakistani man was also charged with human trafficking, which he denied. Prosecutors said his role was to arrange for customers.
The court heard how the mother brought her daughter from Pakistan last year after telling her she had found her a job in a beauty salon.
“When I arrived my mother and my father told my that I was here to work as a prostitute. I refused but she started yelling at me and telling me I had to repay the costs they paid,” the victim told prosecutors.
The girl was sent to a hotel where she was forced to have sex with men. She continued to work as a prostitute until her mother’s visa expired after which both women returned to Pakistan.
“We came back to Dubai in June last year and my mother started sending me to customers and on one occasion she sent me to Sharjah, where I was arrested,” said the girl.
She added that she once asked a customer for help and to call police but he refused.
The teenager is currently being cared for by the Dubai Foundation for Women and Children. She is seven months pregnant.
It was not clear in court records how the defendants were arrested.
The next hearing will be on September 1.
salamir@thenational.ae