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29 March 2024

Maid brought on visit visa forced into prostitution by compatriot

Published
By Eman Al Baik

A 20-year-old domestic helper, OSD, Indian, with the help of other fugitives allegedly promised a compatriot a maid job but forced her into prostitution when she came to the country, the Dubai Criminal Court heard.

OSD is also accused of confining the victim, MFA, in a brothel.

The 31-year-old victim testified that she is a widow since 2005 and is looking after two children and is looking for a maid job.

“I first came to Dubai On August 17, 2011, looking for a maid job. I left my mobile number of India with a number of families and places. When I did not get a job for a month, I turned back to my home country. One day I received a call from someone called Mohammed who told me that he is from Mumbai and that a family in Dubai is willing to offer me a maid job for two years for about Dh800 monthly salary. I told him that I cannot stay away from my children for two consecutive years. He offered to issue me a visa just to try and if I was willing to continue a work visa will be issued.

“I accepted his offer and emailed him a photocopy of my passport and pictures. A week later, he told me that the visa is ready. I went to Mumbai on March 5 to travel to Dubai. I met Mohammed at the train station. He gave me the visa and an air-ticket and told me that a man named Shikar will be waiting for me at Dubai International Airport to drop me to the house where I will work and he supplied me his mobile number and I gave him my du mobile number.”

She said: “When I arrived in Dubai, I called Shikar who told me that someone called Dibak, is waiting for me at the gate. The so-called Dibak took me to the car of Shikar, and they drove me to a building in Deira. They entered a flat which was divided into cabins with doors. They told me that I will work here. I told them what work would be here. They took my passport and threw it. As they found that I had come to Dubai, they asked me if I know anyone. I replied negatively so they did not take mobile from me to be able to call my children back home. The locked the door and left.”

She told the court that they returned after an hour and Shikar said that Dibak will stay with her in the same partition area. “After two days of my arrival, Shikar asked Dibak to leave the room and asked me to undress to have sex with me. I told him that I am not a prostitute and pushed him back. He told me that nobody will come and help me because all in the neighbourhood are members of his gang. He terrified me and undressed and had forcible sex. One the following day, he also had forcible sex with me. Then he told me that I will work as a prostitute.

“I refused and asked him for my passport and the air-ticket. He asked me to pay him Rs200,000 that he had paid to the man who brought me to Dubai. I told him that I do not have that amount and that the air-ticket and the visa I got from that man for free. He asked me to work for his account for three months. When he had left the room, I called Mohammed back in India. He told me that I am a woman and I should work as I was requested in order to pay back the required amount and hanged up the call.”

The victim MFA testified before the court that another Indian woman named Lakshmi was also brought into the flat by some men. She was also crying and screaming at them. She was forced into prostitution and then the men disappeared.

Later the so-called Dibak brought a sex customer to her partition who had forcible sex with her despite her screams and resistance. Dibak collected Dh100 from the customer.

“I was forced to please between 3 to 7 men every day. Dibak who was receiving clients and collecting money from them, used to bring condoms. They used to lock flat with a key that Dibak had a copy of,” she testified.

Shikar threatened to sell her to others if she does not cooperate with him and please his customer. She was also threatened that if sold to any other party she would not be able to travel back for five years and would not her children.

On March 19, the victim suffered from severe pain in her abdomen… She called her family back home and told them what had happened to her. Her family supplied her with a wrong number of police in the UAE. She was forced to seek help of one of the sex customers who gave her the police 999 number as well as the address of the flat.

She called the police and told them about whereabouts of the building. “I entered the bathroom and locked it; from its window I could see some African men loading stuff into a vehicle. I also waived my hand upon to the policeman who could see me. Police raided the flat when Dibak came in.

Dibak turned out to be OSD.

Police confiscated control cameras that were fixed by the accused as well as some notebooks where they had recorded accounts of five women.

OSD confessed that he came to the UAE to work as a domestic servant to a family in Al Ain. As he did not pass the medical fitness test, he was offered the job of running the brothel by Shikar for Dh750 per month.

He confessed to confining the victim and forcing her into prostitution and collecting money from customers.

Shikar ran away after he saw the police raid. Police also discovered a camera hidden in plastic flowers that was also connected to the TV. Police knew from the recordings of the camera that he has used the stairs in order to escape.