DUBAI // A 16-year-old girl was abducted and raped by a man who lent her uncle money before she was handed to a human-trafficking gang that brought her to the UAE and forced her into prostitution, Dubai Criminal Court was told on Sunday.
The Pakistani girl told prosecutors that she had been working as a prostitute in an apartment with a number of women for about 18 months.
“I was given to this woman, who got me a new passport as her daughter then brought me to the UAE,” said the victim, adding that she entered and exited the country three times purportedly as the woman’s daughter.
“The last time we exited the country, we stayed with a number of women in Pakistan. One of them told me that I have to find away to reach police and tell them my story and they will help me as they have strict laws against human trafficking here [in the UAE],” said the girl.
A few months after coming back to the UAE for a third time, through Dubai international Airport, she met a Pakistani man and told him about the 35-year-old woman who was forcing her into the sex industry, and he helped her reach out to Sharjah Police, she said.
Police arrested the 35-year-old woman, who is now charged with human trafficking, running a brothel and facilitating prostitution work for a number of women.
She denied all charges in court on Sunday.
A number of women were arrested at the brothel and were found to be working willingly in prostitution.
The next hearing will be on December 14.
salamir@thenational.ae
