Men ‘forced countrywoman to leave maid work to become prostitute’

Bangladeshi accused were also trying to sell woman for Dh2,800, police said.

DUBAI // Two workers are accused of persuading a maid to abscond from her sponsor before they forced her into prostitution.

The Bangladeshi defendants, aged 28 and 22, made contact with the maid last year but it was not clear how they got to know her.

“I arrived 18 months ago and I recall that last year one of the two workers called me and asked me about my salary then told me other women work per hour and make much more money,” said the 21-year-old maid, who is from Bangladesh.

After being persuaded by the pair, she said she absconded and was taken to a flat in International City, where she met two other Bangladeshi women who told her she would be working in prostitution, like they were.

“I refused to do so for about 10 days but then I was beaten into it and worked for about three months before I was arrested in a car with a man the two defendants had arranged,” she said.

A police lieutenant said that one of the defendants was tipped off to them for offering a woman for sale in return for Dh2,800.

“The defendant was kept under observation and was arrested in a sting operation on November 24 last year after an undercover policeman posed as a buyer. The maid was the woman the defendants were selling,” said the policeman.

After the arrest, police raided the brothel where the victim was kept and five women were found there.

The two men denied forcing the woman into prostitution and told the court that she was willing.

They were charged with human trafficking at Dubai Criminal Court, which they both denied.

The next hearing will be on May 4.