Dubai Court upholds imprisonment of 2 Africans for forcing a woman into prostitution

Mohammed Yaseen, Staff Reporter

The Dubai Court of Appeal upheld a judgment issued against two Africans, man and woman, 27 and 36, respectively, sending them to 3 years in prison each to be followed by deportation for luring a compatriot woman and coercing her into prostitution.

The second convict will also serve six months more for the charge of practicing dirty work, the Court ordered.    

The details of the case date back to August last year, when an African woman lodged a complaint with the security authorities, stating that she had been locked-up and coerced into prostitution by persons from her country.

During the interrogation, the victim explained that a woman from her home country (her friend) brought her into the country to work as a maid for a family and that she covered the expenses of the visit visa and flight ticket.

“I accepted the offer and agreed to travel and work to help my family and my blind mother,” the victim added.

She continued, “My friend and another person received my at the airport and drove to an apartment, where I found a number of women are dwelling in, but I was shocked by my friend informing me that my work is prostitution. And when I refused, she threatened to let her men beat me up if I continued stubborn and disobedient”

The victim also stated that she managed to escape from those people while she was being transported to another emirate, where she asked a passerby to help her reach the police station to report the crime.

Through the investigations and gathering information, the security team managed to identify the two suspects.

According to a cop’s statement, he set an ambush to arrest the two suspects in flagrante delicto, so he contacted the woman to figure out a date for Dhs50. At the appointed time, she was arrested and confessed to working in prostitution. the second suspect was also arrested and both were referred to the Court.