Bangladeshis Jailed for `Selling` Indonesian Maid via WhatsApp
22 June 2018 19:18 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta- Four Bangladeshis have each been sentenced to five years' imprisonment by the Court of First Instance in Dubai. The men are convicted with human trafficking charges after trying to sell an Indonesian maid through Whatsapp.
Two of the defendants, aged 25 and 28, are accused of trying to sell an Indonesian worker who escaped from her employer's home. She was being offered for a price of US$1,498 or Rp21 million. Both men were convicted guilty.
Two other Bangladeshis, aged 36 and 31, were given the same sentence for aiding the crime, Asia Times reported on June 22.
Read: Migrant Care Suspects Human Trafficking Involved in Adelina Case
The four men, who were arrested by the police in February, are also convicted guilty of facilitating prostitution—bringing male customers to engage in sexual intercourses with the victim. Three of them also had sex with the victim.
The court also ordered the convicts to pay a fine of 100,000 dirham or Rp383 million to compensate the victim, a 41-year old mother of three who is currently being placed at the Dubai Foundation for Women and Children.
"I arrived in Dubai on January 4, 2017, and worked for a family in Abu Dhabi. I got in contact with a woman and told her that I was not happy at work because the sponsor's wife was very demanding. She then introduced me to another woman (a wanted runaway) who promised me a part-time job with a 1,500-dirham salary," the victim said as reported by Khaleej Times.
Read: Indonesia-Saudi to Prevent Human Trafficking
She said that on February 5, around 22:00, she was told to pack her bags as she would be taken to another house.
"Minutes after I got in the defendant's car, the police raided the place. I had no idea I was being sold," she said.
A police lieutenant in Dubai said he was tipped that a woman was being sold for 5,500 dirham. "We then sent informants to meet the suspects; pretending to be buyers".
EKA YUDHA SAPUTRA
