Dubai: Three Egyptian mothers were sentenced to six months in jail for exploiting their children and using them for begging in Dubai.
According to the Dubai Court of First Instance, the three mothers were additionally slapped with a Dh5,000 fine, to be followed by deportation.
Last November, a man noticed a seven-year-old child begging in the Naif area and decided to alert Dubai Police.
A policeman said that the little girl admitted to begging at the behest of her mother.
The mother who was called to Naif police station admitted to using her daughter for begging.
She even informed the police about two other mothers who arrived with her from Egypt and were using their children for begging.
Dubai Police identified the other two women who were trying to leave the country from Dubai International Airport.
The first defendant claimed that she couldn’t find a job and asked her daughter to beg. Police found Dh57 with the first girl.
Official records showed that the second mother was using her eight-year-old daughter for begging while the third was begging with her eight-month-old son.
The second defendant admitted to collecting Dh3,000 through begging.
The third defendant admitted to begging while she was carrying her son.
Surveillance cameras showed the girls walking on the streets of Naif to beg.
The seven-year-old girl told officers that she didn’t go to school and doesn’t know reading or writing and that her mother asked her to beg on the streets.
“I saw her alone on the streets and I was afraid for her safety. I decided to alert Dubai Police,” said the witness in official records.
Dubai Public Prosecution has charged the three women with human trafficking and begging.
