Filipina jailed for five years in Dubai for trafficking compatriot into prostitution

DUBAI // A brothel madam who forced a compatriot into prostitution has been jailed for five years.

M?S, 30, a Filipina, lured the woman with the promise of a receptionist job. But after collecting her from the airport on October 21 last year she took her to a brothel in Al Satwa.

“She took away my passport and told me I had to prostitute myself to be able to pay her back Dh26,000, the expenses of my travel to Dubai,” the woman said.

She refused, but when the madam threatened to kill her she gave in. Four days after her arrival she escaped and went to her consulate in Abu Dhabi. She was taken to the Abu Dhabi Foundation for Women and Children and Dubai Police were told of her ordeal.

Officers raided the brothel and arrested the madam and two Filipina prostitutes, J?P, 27, and J?L, 35.

Emirati A?H, a police captain, said the madam threatened her victim by claiming she had influence with the police. “On her fourth day at the brothel, the victim was at a hotel having sex with a British customer,” he said. “The customer gave her Dh1,000 so she hailed a cab and went to Abu Dhabi to her consulate.”

At the Criminal Court yesterday,   the madam was found guilty of human trafficking and managing a prostitution business.

The two other women arrested  were charged with prostitution and each sentenced to a year in jail. All three will be deported after their jail terms. The verdict is subject to appeal within 15 days.

salamir@thenational.ae