Dubai: A salesman was accused of using a social networking website to lure three girls to Dubai and forcing them into prostitution.
Prosecutors charged the 38-year-old Syrian salesman, M.M., of deceiving the three girls, two Colombians and one from the Dominican Republic. He misled them into believing that he loved them and even made promises of marriage. Once they reached Dubai, the defendant is said to have coerced the girls to go to nightclubs to forcibly pick up clients and have sex with them.
The defendant pleaded not guilty when he appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance.
According to the arraignment sheet, prosecutors said M.M. had committed a human trafficking crime. He is said to have met the two girls on a social networking site and professed love to them. Then, he separately invited them to come to Dubai and paid for their air tickets and visas. He hosted them at his residence before sexually exploiting them.
The girls were identified as 24-year-old Dominican Y.S., and 28-year-old S.M. and 23-year-old Z.I. from Colombia.
Y.S. testified that M.M. claimed to her over the social network that he is Lebanese and loved her.
"He convinced me that he wanted to marry me. I sent him a copy of my travel documents…he picked me up from the airport and made me stay in his flat in Al Mutainah. I stayed with him for two weeks and had consensual sex with him several times. We moved out to a bigger flat and he suggested that I work in prostitution, claiming that it is legal in the UAE…I refused. He asked me to go to nightclubs to pick clients saying it would earn me excellent income. I went out several times and claimed that clients were not interested in me…when he discovered my trick, he beat and threatened me," Y.S. claimed.
