Pimp arrested as he tried to climb out toilet window, Dubai court hears

The pimp was one of two men who lured women to the country with promises of decent jobs but instead locked them up and forced them to work in the sex industry, prosecutors told the Criminal Court.

DUBAI // Police arrested a brothel owner as he tried to climb out the bathroom window, a court heard yesterday.

He was one of two human traffickers who lured women to the country with promises of decent jobs but instead locked them up and forced them to work in the sex industry, prosecutors told the Criminal Court.

Both were caught in August last year when one of them left his mobile phone with one of the women by accident and she called police.

Officers who raided the brothel, a villa in Deira, said he was detained while trying to escape through the bathroom window.

Bangladeshis H A, 32 and J M, 30, offered maids’ jobs in Dubai to five women between the ages of 17 to 19 through a third person in their home country.

But when the women arrived, they were taken to the villa and chained, beaten and raped after having their passports stolen.

One of the women told prosecutors that when she arrived at the villa she met 17 other women who told her they had been forced into prostitution. Soon afterwards, she was told by the men that she would also have to prostitute herself.

H A then stripped her naked, beat her, took pictures of her and raped her. He then threatened to show the pictures to her family in Bangladesh. Two other women also complained of being raped, one of them saying H A had attacked her more than 10 times.

A number of other women also said they were chained and assaulted.

While searching the brothel, police found a visit permit from the central prison which showed that H A had visited a Bangladeshi inmate serving time for human trafficking.

Both men denied charges of human trafficking, running a brothel and holding five people captive.

H A denied a further charge of rape. The case was adjourned to April 7.