Facebook chat helps Dubai Police bust prostitution ring

The accused locked up women in an apartment in the Al Hamriya area and forced them into prostitution

Court hearings in Dubai have been halted as part of efforts to limit the spread of coronavirus. Courtesy: AFP     

Police have broken a prostitution ring in Dubai with the help of Facebook chat messages, after an Indonesian woman, 30, contacted her sister on social media and told her she was being held against her will in an apartment, leading to the police raid.

The woman had fallen prey to a man who promised her a job with a family as a domestic worker, the Dubai Criminal Court heard.

She arrived in the UAE last year and worked for two families in Abu Dhabi and Ajman but absconded for what she thought was a better paying job in Dubai.

It is alleged that the accused men tried to force her into prostitution last October after luring her to an apartment in the emirate.

“They took me in a taxi on the pretext of getting a job but locked me up in an apartment. I had no contact with the outside world,” she said.

There were several women being held against their will in the apartment, the court heard.

“They monitored us with cameras. We couldn’t step out of the apartment,” she added.

However, she had a mobile phone without a SIM card and managed to connect to an open wifi network, before contacting her sister on Facebook, who tipped off the police.

“We received a report from a woman about her sister being locked up in an apartment in Al Hamriya area,” said a first lieutenant.

The police arrested four Bangladeshis, one Pakistani and two Indonesian women. They have been charged with human trafficking, confinement and forcing women into prostitution.

The hearing was adjourned until February 3.