Girls escape sex racket as client falls asleep

Two girls tricked into prostitution managed to escape when a client fell asleep after he slipped into deep sleep after a massage. The girls, both from Philippines, who were lured to Dubai with a job offer by a Filipina hairdresser later lodged a complaint with Dubai Police. The 33-year-old Filipina hairdresser ANA who is now facing charges of bringing the girls from Philippines and pushing them into sex slavery, on Thursday pleaded innocence before a Dubai Court of First Instance. According to the case sheet, an Egyptian man who stays in Al Nahda, Sharjah, struck a deal with the woman to bring the two girls to him for a session of sex on May 7. After being dropped off at his flat, the woman left asking the girls MJ and AG, both 25, to give him a massage. But to the girls’ luck, the man slipped into a deep sleep opening a window of opportunity for them to escape. MJ called her aunt VJR, 53, who lives in Sharjah and took a taxi to reach her flat. The lady them took the two girls to lodge a police complaint. Answering a query on why she failed to inform her aunt for that long, MJ told the prosecution that it was the first time she had access to a phone since landed in Dubai. She said she used the pre-paid phone card given to her by ANA who wanted them to call her after finishing with the client. Unraveling the story, MJ told the prosecution she was a job-seeker and got in touch with ANA by calling her from Philippines with the number given a friend. The woman allegedly agreed to bring them to Dubai for Dh6,000 to work as a saleswoman in a supermarket. She had then made them believe that the money was to pay for the air ticket, visa and two months’ accommodation. When told she didn’t have that kind of money, ANA agreed to MJ’s request that the cost could be recovered from her wages once she joins for work in Dubai. After she got the visa on April 21, MJ landed in Dubai on April 23. She was picked from the airport by ANA and a Filipino man. She was then taken to a one-bedroom flat that ANA shared with others. After being pushed into prostitution, MJ said ANA used to charge Dh300 for two hours, Dh500 for a full night and Dh700 for a whole day. She always shadowed the girls and gave them no chance to run away, MJ said. The second girl AG also had a similar story to tell the prosecution, only that ANA changed her mind when she landed in Dubai and asked her to pay Dh20,000 instead of Dh6,000 allegedly agreed upon before her arrival. A policeman Ali Humaid Ali bin hareb testified that ANA was arrested from her house in Al Muraqqabat area on May 9. Police recovered the girls’ passport and small amounts of various currencies were confiscated from her. The court has adjourned the case to November 8.