Man jailed for forcing woman to sell body in Dubai found not guilty on appeal

One Bangladeshi man is acquitted but the other has his five-year sentence upheld for forcing a woman into the sex trade then trying to sell her for Dh5,000.

DUBAI // One of two men who were sentenced to five years in jail for trafficking a maid has been acquitted by Dubai Court of Appeal.

Bangladeshis MA, 23, and MM, 26, were convicted of forcing an absconding maid into prostitution by Dubai Criminal Court in September and were told they would be deported after completing their sentences.

They convinced the victim to run away after promising her a better-paid job, but they instead forced her to sell her body.

The Bangladeshi victim had arrived in the UAE last year through a labour office in Ajman and started working for an Emirati family in Dubai.

“A month after my arrival, the sponsor’s wife made a problem so they took me back to the labour office,” said the victim, MS, 26.

She was at the labour office for nearly three days and, in that time, met a woman who convinced her to run away, telling her that if she did she would be able to work for much more money than what she getting as a maid.

“I agreed and she took me to the residence of a man identified as E, whom she said will find me the job she promised,” the woman said. “But two days later E gave me to a man who I saw as he paid E money.”

She was taken to a flat in Dubai, then to a massage centre, where she was told she will work as a masseuse in return for Dh1,000 a month.

“All customers were men and one day a customer wanted to have sex, but when I refused I was beaten up and had to give in. I worked in prostitution for five days,” she said in records.

The woman was then sold to MM, who locked her up in a brothel and forced her to work in the sex industry. She tried to escape from a bathroom window but was caught and beaten.

“MM then called MA, who took me in a car, but when he was arranging with some men and taking money from them, police raided and arrested all of us,” she said.

MM was arrested the next day, records showed.

Police major MMA, 35, testified that they received information that the two men were trying to sell a woman for Dh5,000.

“We arrested one in a sting operation on December 24 last year,” said the major.

Both were convicted of all charges and sentenced to five years in jail, to be followed by deportation. The court also ordered that MA should be kept under close surveillance during his sentence. It also ordered the closure of the brothel.

The pair appealed the verdict and MA was found not guilty, but MM’s sentence was upheld. No reason was given for the appeal court verdicts.