Indian Consulate denies role in Dubai prostitution ring

Dubai: The Indian Consulate in Dubai has strongly denied that any of its officials are involved in a prostitution ring or that it turned a blind eye to the issue of human trafficking here.

The denial came after a complaint filed by a Dubai-based woman to an Indian minister in which she accused a consulate employee of being part of a prostitution racket in the UAE.

On April 5, The Hindu newspaper in India reported that a “Malayalee homemaker in Dubai was in for a shock when she went out of her way to help a Kerala woman escape from a brothel in the Gulf state. In a letter to Kerala Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, she has accused an employee of the Indian consulate of being part of a prostitution racket in the UAE.”

A spokeswoman of the Indian Consulate told XPRESS: “The story that appears in The Hindu does not refer to much of the information provided by us to [the correspondent] and is not conclusive and talks of allegations which are not proven.”

She said: “We reject any suggestion that this consulate and its officials turn a blind eye to any issues of human trafficking involving Indian nationals.”

The Hindu report said the Dubai resident’s letter was given to the minister last month by Anweshi, a non-governmental organisation on women’s rights. It said the letter was written after the “homemaker” was allegedly threatened by a consulate employee and that in mid-2012, she had tried to help a “Malayali woman who was lured to Ajman with the offer of a maid job at a Malayali doctor’s house in Dubai. Only on reaching Ajman did she realise that she was trapped in a prostitution racket allegedly run … by a person wanted by the Kerala Police.”

The report alleged that the victim was locked up and raped repeatedly by the brothel’s customers. That was when her family asked for the “homemaker’s” help.

The woman reportedly said in her letter she first tried to contact the Indian Consulate in Dubai on its emergency number. “In response to the distress call, the consulate asked her to send an email with the details of the case and said action would be taken only after the weekend holiday. She later went to the Ajman Police, who raided an apartment being used as a brothel by the racket.”

Four victims, three of them from Kerala, were arrested in the apartment.

The Indian newspaper alleged that according to the letter, the Indian Consulate official visited the victim in prison and verbally abused her and allegedly threatened the “homemaker” for rescuing the victim from the flat.

Consul General speaks

It said in response to its queries, ‘Sanjay Verma, Consul General, confirmed that the consulate employee was part of the team that visited the Ajman prison to examine the case. However, he termed the allegations that consulate officials were protecting those involved in human trafficking as baseless. He said the consulate had been tracking the victim’s case and had tried to meet her when she was housed at a shelter in Ras Al Khaimah, but they had been denied permission. “This consulate is proactive in such matters and also runs a shelter to house distressed women, including victims or participants in human trafficking,’ the paper quoted him as saying.