Trio face trial for trafficking

Dubai: Three suspects have been accused of buying a 13-year-old Arab girl from her mother in a foreign country and bringing her here to work as a prostitute and dancer.

Two Arab men and a female compatriot bought the teenage girl from her mother and flew her to Dubai, where they forced her to have sex with men for Dh2,000 to Dh3,000 a night, said Khalifa Bin Deemas, the Head of the Attorney General's Technical Office, in a statement yesterday.

"Implementing the directives of Dubai's Attorney General Essam Eisa Al Humaidan, the trio was referred to the Dubai Court of First Instance, where they will be prosecuted for violating the human trafficking law. Another Arab woman has also been referred to court where she will be prosecuted for failing to report the crime to the authorities," Bin Deemas said.

The statement said the 13-year-old had been referred to Dubai's Women and Children Foundation for medical, social and psychological rehabilitation.

"Al Humaidan has repeatedly instructed the Technical office to look into cases of human trafficking & The Attorney General has always instructed us to render the required support to human trafficking victims," Bin Deemas said.

He described the suspects' alleged crime as "unacceptable, irregular and not in keeping with religious and cultural norms".

Public Prosecutor Khalfan Al Meerfi conducted the initial interrogations which revealed that the suspects had paid the mother and flew her daughter to Dubai.

Bin Deemas said the suspects had arranged a fake passport for the girl and claimed to be her parents.