Dubai: A man has been accused of exploiting a 16-year-old girl’s need to raise money for her father’s heart surgery by bringing her to Dubai and forcing her into prostitution.

The 36-year-old unemployed Indian man, F.M., allegedly abused the Pakistani girl’s financial circumstances and brought her to Dubai in January using a passport that falsely mentioned her age as 22.

The case came to light in July when police raided a hotel room where the girl was with a client.

She told prosecutors that she agreed to work in prostitution to raise Dh80,000 for her father’s treatment.

Prosecutors said F.M. and an Indian couple, both of whom remain at large, brought the girl to Dubai and forced her into prostitution.

The accused pleaded not guilty before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Wednesday.

“I did not force her into prostitution. I was a servant at the hotel and was hired by a man to show photos of prostitutes to pedestrians and invite them to have paid sex … I used to get commission,” he told presiding judge Ahmad Mohammad.

The girl told prosecutors: “My mother died when I was young and my father fell ill and required heart surgery that costs Dh80,000. My cousin [the other woman suspect who remains at large] had been working as a prostitute in Dubai and she talked me into coming here to work in the sex trade to raise money. My father initially refused, but later agreed hesitantly. He and I were flown to the UAE in January and we stayed in a hotel … but he refused to allow me to work in the sex trade. The couple tried to convince my father, but he persistently refused.

“Thereafter, they managed to send him back to Pakistan, and immediately after that I was made to work in prostitution. They used to drive me to hotels to have sex with customers who used to pay me Dh100 to Dh500 tip per day. However, the male runaway used to take that money and claim that he would save it for me … which he never did. The suspects flew me out of the country when my visit visa expired and brought me back on a new visa. In July, I was asked to meet a client in a hotel room… a few minutes later, police raided the room, arrested the client and took me with them.”

A police lieutenant told prosecutors that the girl was rescued and F.M. apprehended following an informant’s tip.

“F.M. admitted during questioning that he had been working as a cleaner at the hotel before the male runaway hired him to bring sex clients for a certain commission,” he told prosecutors.

The court will appoint a lawyer to defend F.M. when it reconvenes on October 26.