Jobseeker lured into massage parlour trap

Two Bangladeshis, MFJ and MJA, allegedly lured a compatriot woman into the UAE after promising her a job, and assaulted her and forced her to offer massages to male clients, the Dubai Criminal Court heard.

SBM, the 34-year-old victim, testified that while she was in her home country, Bangladesh, she met a man called Delo who worked in transaction clearing.

“He offered me work in a massage centre for a monthly salary of 20,000 Bangladeshi taka (Dh1,300) . He also asked me to pay 60,000 Bangladeshi taka for the cost of the visa and air ticket. I agreed but as I told him that I only have  BT12,000.

"He agreed provided I send him monthly installments after I start work in Dubai. So I gave him my documents. After some time he handed me my passport and air ticket and dropped me to the airport in Bangladesh.

“Two compatriot men received me at Dubai airport and one of them took my passport and visa and they brought me to a flat.

“The next day, MFJ took me to a massage centre where I was asked to massage male clients. I was taken to different massage centres every day and was asked to work for 12 hours every day from 11am to 11pm and was not paid salary for two months. MFJ even took away the tips some customers gave me.

“However, when I found out that what I am doing is illegal as per UAE rules, I refused to go to work and asked the two men to cancel the visa and give her the passport and air ticket.

“They confined me and beat me up for four days. One night, I woke up and found MJA lying next to me in the bed completely naked. He cupped my mouth as MFJ and two other women were sleeping in the house. He forcibly had sex with me.

“The next day I told the two that I will go to work and will not demand anything. MFJ took me to a centre and while at work, I saw from the window a man wearing UAE national dress. I went out and sought the man’s help after narrating my story to him and gave him the address where I stayed. He asked me to continue working and not to tell anyone about meeting him. He notified the police,” she testified.

Police raided the flat and found the victim and other two women who said they had been forced into prostitution.

Police confiscated a notebook where money receipts were recorded and passports, visas and money transfer receipts. The two accused were arrested in the sports club of the same building at Al Rifaa area.

MJA, 26, denied confining and beating the victim or forcing the women into prostitution but admitted transporting the victim to and from massage centres.

MFJ, 28, confessed to picking up the victim from the centre and said MJA was managing the flat and he was the one who beat up the victim. He confessed to transporting the other two women to massage centres.

The two women denied knowing that the two men had forced the victim into prostitution and admitted to offering massage to men.

However, the two accused later confessed to beating up the victim, claiming that she had left the flat without their knowledge. They said they beat her because they were afraid that she may abscond.

The Court will reconvene on November 25.
 

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