Servant accused of enticing widow to UAE and into prostitution

Dubai A servant was accused of luring a widowed mother to the UAE and locking her up in a flat where he forced her into prostitution.

Prosecutors charged the 20-year-old Indian servant, O.S., of abusing his 31-year-old countrywoman’s, M.F., desperate need to raise her two children and bringing her to Dubai to work as a housemaid for Dh800 salary.

Then he was said to have confined her in a flat and forced her to have paid sex with strangers under intimidation.

Prosecution records said a second Indian suspect, only identified as C., was involved in the case but he remains a large.

“No I am not guilty… I did not do that. I had nothing to do with the incident. The other suspect [C.] is the one who put me in the flat with the women,” argued O.S. when he defended himself before the Dubai Court of First Instance.

According to the accusation sheet, O.S. and other suspects committed a human trafficking crime by abusing M.F.’s need for money. M.F., who became a widow in 2005, was offered to work as a housemaid and as soon as she landed here, she was locked up in a brothel and forced to work in prostitution.

Prosecutors asked the court to implement a life sentence against O.S., who was charged with sexual exploitation, running a brothel and unlawfully locking up M.F.

The woman testified that her agony started when she visited Dubai in August last year but she failed to find a job.

“During my first visit, I left my contact number in India with all the people I met here. One day a man named Mohammad called and arranged for me to come to Dubai to work. C. and O.S. picked me from the airport and took me directly to the flat. They threatened and intimidated me to work in prostitution. They forced me to have sex with up to seven men per day… O.S. kept me locked in the flat and always watched me out. They used to charge men between Dh50 and Dh100. There were other women who were forced to have sex with men in the same flat. when I sustained severe pains in my stomach and vagina, I phoned my family in India and told them what happened. Then I contacted the police and guided them to the flat,” M.F. claimed to prosecutors.

She communicated with the police using a phone that she bought when she visited Dubai in August.

An Emirati anti-human trafficking policeman said M.F. was locked up inside the flat so she guided him while looking from the window.

A police team raided the flat and arrested O.S. on the building’s roof after he broke down the kitchen window and tried to escape.

Presiding Judge Hamad Abdul Latif Abdul Jawad referred the case to another panel of judges that will look into it on June 10. A lawyer has been appointed by the court to defend the suspect.