DUBAI // A runaway maid escaped from a gang that forced her into prostitution only to be captured by two other men who made her to work in a massage parlour.
Dubai Criminal Court heard that S P, 31, an Indonesian, absconded from her sponsor’s family in Hatta because they beat her up and did not pay her on time.
“I met this woman who told me her name was Noor Hayati and she convinced me to abscond as she could find me a better job,” said S P.
The maid was then taken to a flat where three other women where being held. S P was beaten up and threatened until she agreed to work as a prostitute.
After two weeks of work, she was sold to another person, whose name she did not know.
“I worked for him for a month before I managed to escape and find a taxi,” said the maid.
She asked the taxi driver to take her to a police station, but instead, he handed her over to two men, who took her to Abu Dhabi.
The men then locked her up and forced her to work in a massage centre for up to 14 hours a day.
She was then offered her for sale again, but this time the buyer was an undercover policeman.
On May 4, the men, M H, 34, and K Y, 35, both Bangladeshis, were arrested and the maid was rescued.
“We arrested them in a sting operation after we were tipped off that they were trying to sell the maid for Dh4,000,” said Emirati policeman SA, 30.
Further investigations then led to the arrest of Bangladeshi MS, 23, who the maid claimed had forced her into prostitution in Dubai.
Prosecutors said MH and KY confessed to a human trafficking charge, while MS denied knowing the victim.
In court on Sunday, all three men denied human trafficking charges. MS was also charged with confining the victim, which he also denied.
The case was adjourned until August 30.
salamir@thenational.ae
