8 jailed for luring teen girls into prostitution in Dubai

Dubai - Court convicted them of charges of human trafficking, sexual exploitation and running a prostitution den.

Seven men and a woman, all Pakistanis, were found guilty on Sunday by a Dubai court of luring three compatriot teen girls to come to Dubai and making them work in a prostitution den.
The documents of the case, which dates back to December 7 last year in Al Muraqqabat, show the defendants had passports issued for the victims with fake ages.
The Court of First Instance convicted them of charges of human trafficking, sexual exploitation and running a prostitution den and sentenced each of them to five years in prison. It also ordered their deportation after serving their jail time and paying a Dh20,000 fine each.
One of the victims, a 17-year-old, said the female accused and her brother, also among the defendants, invited her to come to the UAE to work in the prostitution racket.
"They issued me the needed papers like passport, entry permit and the plane ticket. That woman received me at the Dubai International Airport and took me to her villa in Al Hamriyah. The next day, I was taken to a flat in Al Baraha where I worked as a prostitute."
She told the prosecutor that on December 7, 2017, the CID officers raided the flat and nabbed her and the other women and the men who came for paid sex.
One of the defendants jumped out of the balcony and died later at hospital, the court documents show. The two other victims, both 17, told a similar story of how they were brought by the group from Pakistan to Dubai to work in prostitution for them.
"We raided the flat in Al Baraha after receiving reliable information that it was being run as a brothel. We had a source tipping us off that underage girls were being sexually exploited there," a police lieutenant said. "When our task force raided the flat, one of the suspects jumped from the balcony and was badly hurt."
Some of them also had consensual sex with the men running the flat.
mary@khaleejtimes.com