Runaway maid who was forced into prostitution finally rescued by undercover police

A runaway maid who escaped from a brothel where she was held captive in Dubai only to be sold to a massage parlour in Abu Dhabi by a taxi driver she asked for help, was finally rescued by undercover police in the capital.

DUBAI // A runaway maid who escaped from a brothel where she was held captive only to be sold to a massage parlour in Abu Dhabi by a taxi driver she asked for help, was finally rescued by undercover police in the capital.

The Dubai Criminal Court heard that Indonesian S P, 31, absconded from her sponsor’s family in Hatta claiming they beat her and did not pay her on time.

She told the court she met a woman who convinced her to run away on the promise of a better job.

The maid was taken to a flat where three other women were being held. She was beaten and threatened until she agreed to work as a prostitute.

After two weeks in the flat, she was sold to a man, whose name she did not know.

“I worked for him for a month before I managed to escape and find a taxi,” said S  P, who asked the driver to take her to a police station.

However, the taxi driver instead handed her over to two men who took her to Abu Dhabi, locked her up and forced her to work in the massage centre for up to 14 hours a day.

S P was then offered up for sale again, but this time the buyer was an undercover policeman.

On May 4 this year, M H, 34, and K Y, 35, both from Bangladesh, were arrested and the maid was finally rescued.

“We arrested them in a sting operation after we were tipped off that they were trying to sell the maid for Dh4,000,” said Emirati policeman S A, 30.

Investigations led to the arrest of M S, 23, also from Bangladesh, who the maid said had forced her into prostitution in Dubai.

In court last August all three men denied human trafficking charges. M S denied locking up S P.

All three men were convicted and each sentenced to five years in jail to be followed by deportation.