Man, woman acquitted of child trafficking charges

A man and a woman who tried to sell an illegitimate child abandoned by his mother were acquitted of charges of child trafficking by the Dubai Court of First Instance.

Narzolaiva F.A., a 39-year-old Uzbek, and Mohammed A.D., a 40-year-old Pakistani, admitted they had tried to sell the year-old child for Dh15,000, but not for profit.

Narzolaiva maintained it was to cover her expenses over the past 11 months in looking after the baby, Khalid.

Khalid's mother, Zanu, was allegedly a woman of easy virtue from Kyrgyzstan, who knew Narzolaiva from a nightclub in Dubai. After giving birth, she gave her son to Narzolaiva to look after, promising to pay Dh1,000 a month.

Soon after, the mother disappeared. Narzolaiva claims she tried to contact Zanu on several occasions, but failed.

An informer alerted the Central Investigation Department (CID) at Al Muraqqabat that Narzolaiva and Mohammed were looking to sell Khalid.

Two agents were given Dh7,000 and assigned to pose as prospective buyers. During the sting operation, the child was found in one of the bedrooms of the apartment in Al Hamriya. The pair were arrested and charged with child trafficking.

Both suspects denied the charges.

During the trial, they explained that they intended to sell the child in order to cover their expenses accrued over the 11-month period they had looked after the baby.

According to court reports, simply offering a child for sale is not enough to convict anyone of slavery or child trafficking under UAE law.