DUBAI // A man who prosecutors say crippled himself while fleeing police appeared in court yesterday charged with raping a 17-year-old girl in order to "prepare" her for working in the sex trade.
The Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance was told the Bangladeshi MM, 42, raped the girl after she was lured into the country with promises of a job as a maid. He appeared in court in a wheelchair.
Prosecutors also charged MM and his compatriot MR, 28, with human trafficking. They are accused of locking up the girl and another Bangladeshi woman and forcing them to work in prostitution.
According to court records, the girl's father told her she must go to Dubai to work as a maid. But when she arrived on January 6, she was taken to a one-bedroom apartment and locked inside for seven days.
After that, she was taken to another flat, where prosecutors said the rape occurred. She told prosecutors she escaped during a taxi ride to another location.
When police raided the apartment, the other woman told them that she also had been promised a maid's job and that she paid Dh6,500 to work in Dubai. The next hearing will be on May 15.
