Underage girl forced into prostitution in Dubai, falls mentally ill

Dubai - She was lured to the country with a fake job offer.

An underage girl became mentally ill after being forced into prostitution in Dubai, the Court of First Instance heard on Monday.
The 16-year-old was tricked into travelling to Dubai by a man and a woman on the pretext of offering her work at a beauty parlour. They also made the travel arrangements for her by forging a passport - with her age increased in it.
Also read: Pakistani man helps save girl forced into prostitution in Dubai
However, after receiving her at the airport, they seized her passport and took her to a flat in Al Muteena where she was locked up and forced into the flesh trade.
The two defendants, aged 30 and 33, were also accused of having sex outside of wedlock.
The 33-year-old woman and an Indonesian woman, 27, were charged with working in prostitution.
A third woman, a 34-year-old Bangladeshi, is facing trial for failing to report the victim's plight.
 
The arrests were made on December 6, 2018, in Dubai's Al Muraqqabat.
 
A police lieutenant said they received a tip-off about a Bangladeshi man who was holding up an underage girl from his home country at a flat in Al Muteena and assaulting her into working as a prostitute.
"Our informant lured the main accused out of the flat and got the key from him. We entered the flat and found the victim with other females."
The lieutenant recounted how the victim looked: "We identified her based on the description of the police informant. We noticed that she did not look fine as she was talking to herself, looking up and laughing for no reason - and then suddenly praying."
The police found the victim's passport and air ticket kept under a pillow on the male defendant's bed.
The defendant denied forcing the victim into prostitution and claimed she was a flatmate.
"He claimed he beat and tied her up her because she was annoying him and refusing to eat."
A Bangladeshi woman, who was found staying in the flat, told the police she did not report the man as she was an illegal resident, adding that she had absconded from her sponsor and was working by the hour at houses.
She also claimed she was scared of the main defendant, who threatened to call the police on her as she was an illegal in the country.
"The woman said that the victim could not walk normally after the ordeal she went through and fell ill," the officer told the prosecutor.
The woman - illegal resident - claimed to have overheard the other accused saying that the victim was forced to have sex with 120 men.
A medical report showed that the victim was mentally ill, suffering from anxiety, fear and excessive agitation.
The trial will continue on March 25.
mary@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai