Life term for six for kidnapping girl

Dubai: A Dubai court has sentenced six men to life imprisonment for human trafficking, and two others have been sentenced to 15 years in jail for running a brothel.

Presiding Judge Fahmy Mounir Fahmy at the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance pronounced the verdict on Wednesday after the suspects were found guilty of kidnapping a 20-year-old Bangladeshi girl, taking her to an apartment in the Naif area and selling her to a man for Dh10,000 to work as a prostitute.

The Bangladeshi men — M.A., 38; J.A., 24; M.R., 28; S.M., 25; M.S., 26; M.J., 26; M.A.S., 25; and N.S., 24 — disguised as police officers and broke into the girl's house in Al Quoz, which she shared with others, records revealed.

The suspects told the victim that she was wanted by police, before kidnapping her.

Victim assaulted

According to prosecution records, the suspects further beat up a driver who was residing in the victim's house and stole his mobile phone and wallet.

They then dragged the girl into a car. The driver told prosecutors that he followed the suspects, wrote down the car's plate number and reported the incident to the Naif police station.

According to records, this took place in January 2010.

The victim said when she refused to work in the flesh trade, she was assaulted with a belt and raped by M.R., a labourer.

However, police officers managed to locate the defendant's flat with the help of the car plate number.

On raiding the apartment, the police found several other women who were held captive and forced into prostitution.

S.M., a painter, and N.S., a carpenter, were given 15 years in jail as they were found guilty of running a brothel.

They will be deported after serving their term.

According to the victim, she had been working as a maid and was living outside her sponsor's home.