Bahrain: Couple jailed for forcing woman into prostitution under false job offer

Dubai: A husband and wife in Bahrain have been sentenced to three years in prison and fined 2,000 Bahraini dinars ($5,300) each for trafficking a compatriot woman into prostitution under the guise of offering her a job in a beauty salon.

The First High Criminal Court also ordered their permanent deportation once their prison terms are served, and required them to pay the cost of returning the victim to her home country.

According to court documents, the victim was lured with the promise of work as a hairdresser.

Upon arriving in Bahrain, her passport was confiscated by the male defendant, who claimed he would keep it safe.

She was housed in the couple’s apartment and later told that her real “job” would be prostitution.

The woman, who prosecutors said came from a low-income family and had sought employment to support her elderly mother, reported the abuse. 

Investigators from the Anti-Human Trafficking Division at the General Directorate of Criminal Investigation and Forensic Evidence traced the case back to the couple, who were subsequently arrested and prosecuted.

The female defendant is accused of arranging the false job offer and facilitating the victim’s travel.