Men who forced runaway maids to work as prostitutes have sentences upheld

The Dubai Court of Appeal upheld the sentences handed down to the Bangladeshis, whose ages were not in court records, for trafficking the two Indonesian women.

DUBAI // Two men persuaded maids to run away from their sponsors with the promise of new jobs, only to then sell them into the sex trade.

A court heard details of their crime as they failed in their appeals against five-year prison terms.

Dubai Court of Appeal upheld the sentences handed down to the Bangladeshis, whose ages were not in court records, for trafficking the two Indonesian women.

One of the women, aged 33, said she and the other maid were encouraged to leave their sponsor’s home in Ras Al Khaimah after five months.

They were taken by one of the men to a hotel in RAK where they spent the night before going to Dubai.

“They took me to a flat where I was sold for Dh4,000 and told I have to work in prostitution,” said the woman, who was locked up and assaulted when she refused.

She said that she was forced to have sex with men against her will, including one of the defendants, and escaped when she became ill and was taken to hospital.

“They gave me Dh500 for my treatment, which I used to hail a cab and head to a police station,” she said.

The second victim, aged 42, said her compatriot made arrangements with the defendants to run away from their sponsor without knowing they would made to prostitute themselves.

“We were both locked up after we refused, but two days later I managed to run away while the man who was keeping guard of the flat fell asleep,” said the woman, who also went to the police.

The incident took place in June 2015, but the defendants were arrested in March last year.

Both men denied charges of human trafficking when they appeared at Dubai Criminal Court in August. They were jailed for five years each.

They will all be deported after serving their prison terms.