DUBAI // One of three men accused of raping a woman after locking up her mother, daughter and sister and threatening to harm them if she did not have sex with them was sentenced to life in jail.
MF, 38, from Pakistan, was convicted of human trafficking, rape, locking up his victim and her family as well as facilitating prostitution.
His countrymen, MT, 55, and 41-year-old RP were found guilty of rape and sentenced to three years each in jail.
MF offered the 20-year-old Pakistani victim a job at a beauty salon after contacting her through a middleman, Dubai Criminal Court was told in January.
But she refused to travel to the UAE because of her daughter and the fact that her mother would not allow it.
She said the defendant then agreed to allow her to bring her mother, daughter and sister.
The women arrived in Dubai on August 1 last year and were taken to a flat near Dubai Hospital, in Deira, that belonged to MF.
“There, MF told me that I wouldn’t be working in a salon and that I would have to prostitute myself or he would hurt my family,” said the woman.
Hours after her arrival, she said he raped her. The next morning he took her to a hotel where she met MT and RP, who had both paid MF to have sex with her, according to court statements.
“When I refused to have sex with them, they called MF, who then threatened to cause harm to my family because they were under his mercy, so I gave in and had sex and danced for the two men,” she said.
The victim’s sister told the court they were kept in a garage at a house.
“It was our first day when my sister was taken by MF, who said she had to go to her job interview. She returned at nearly 3am and was crying.
“I took her away from her daughter and our mother so she wouldn’t wake them up, and she told me what had happened to her,” said the victim’s sister.
The victim told police about her ordeal but MF blindfolded her mother, sister and daughter, assaulted them and took them to another house.
The sister said: “MF told me and my mother that if we wanted him to let us go we should pay him a ransom, so we called my father in Pakistan, who had to mortgage our house and wire the money.”
When he received the money, MF ordered the mother to go to police and claim that her daughter was crazy and that she had told lies.
After the mother did this, she was released together with the sister and daughter.
The three men all denied the charges against them in court earlier this year. However, they were all convicted and will be deported after serving their jail terms.
salamir@thenational.ae
