A 64-year-old Iraqi woman and her daughter have been jailed for 10 years for illegally flying in three teenage girls to Dubai and coercing them into prostitution, Gulf News reported.
The hefty prison sentence came after one victim's story was brought to light. In May 2017, a 16-year-old Iraqi girl escaped a villa in Al Khawaneej area - where she was being forced to have sexual intercourse with strangers.
The 16-year-old fled to a nearby mosque in Sharjah, where she took shelter for three days and shared the details of her story with a Palestinian woman. The latter took the girl to the local police station, where police officers specializing in cases of human trafficking started investigating.
Subsequently, the officers raided the villa and found a number of young girls being held hostage under the supervision of the woman's daughter.
The 32-year-old coerced the girls to have sex with strangers for 1,500 dirhams ($408) to 6,000 dirhams ($1,633), according to Gulf News.
Prior to flying the victims into Dubai, the Iraqi women forged passports for the youngsters, altering their ages and names.
On Sunday, Dubai's Court of First Instance convicted the two women on charges of "human trafficking for bringing young girls [aged between 15 and 17] to Dubai and coercing them to work in the sex trade."
During the court hearings, the victims shared the details of their stories, explaining how they ended up in the villa. One of the teenagers explained that she was brought to Dubai - illegally - along with her younger sister.
"My younger sister was taken to a side room where she was forced to have sex with a stranger."
"We were coerced to work in prostitution … they made us stay in a villa. One day, they took us to a villa in Abu Dhabi where there was a party and too many men were present," one of the girls testified, according to Gulf News.
"One man made me dance for him while my younger sister was taken to a side room where she was forced to have sex with a stranger. When I saw her plight, she and I cried," she added.
Another victim told prosecutors that she was offered a job in Dubai by the 32-year-old woman in 2013.
"I was 19 when I came and now I'm 23. The defendants changed my name and my age," she said, according to The National.
The accused will be deported following the completion of their prison term, although they still have the option to appeal their sentences within two weeks.
Not the first case of human trafficking in the UAE
In 2017, a human trafficking and prostitution ring - involving a 27-year-old Bangladeshi security guard and other unknown persons - was busted after one woman sent her brother a message via WhatsApp.
The woman, who was identified as a Kyrgyz national, is one of two who was lured to Dubai after the security guard offered them jobs as domestic helpers, and forced into prostitution shortly after being picked up from the airport.
They were only able to escape after the police busted the ring with the help of the message one of the women was able to send to her brother in her home country, Khaleej Times reported.