DUBAI// A security guard lured two women to Dubai and forced them to work as prostitutes in the brothel he ran, a court has been told.
In July last year, the Bangladeshi contacted two women from Kyrgyzstan and promised them jobs, although it was not clear how he came to know them.
They were picked up from Dubai International Airport and taken to a flat in Barsha Heights, where they were locked up and told they would have to work in a brothel.
One of the women sent her brother a WhatsApp message telling him what had happened and he contacted Kyrgyzstan consulate in Dubai.
When police raided the apartment on July 19, two consular employees were already there.
Police said the defendant was behind a desk in the flat, which had been divided into small bedrooms. Four women were present.
“When I questioned him about the place he said it was a massaging centre,” said an Emirati policeman.
The defendant denied charges of human trafficking and running a brothel. The women, aged 24 and 21, denied a charge of prostitution, saying they were forced to work in the brothel.
The next hearing is scheduled for February 7.
salamir@thenational.ae
