Hotel club workers accused of human trafficking

A hotel nightclub supervisor and waiter allegedly forced a 22-year-old female Indian dancer into prostitution by threatening to not feed her and lock her up, the Court of First Instance heard on Monday.

According to a report in The Khaleej Times, the Indian defendants pleaded not guilty to the human trafficking charge when they appeared in the court.

According to court records, the first defendant was the supervisor of dancers in a hotel nightclub in Muraqqabat.

He was also responsible for bringing women from India to work as dancers at the club.

According to the prosecution, he forced the dancer to have sex with men for AED 2000 and threatened her with denying her food and locking her up.

The second defendant, a waiter, allegedly assisted the first defendant by driving women to customers.

The paper said the Syrian general manager of the hotel in which the nightclub is located told the prosecution that the first defendant was the direct supervisor of the woman.

He denied that the administration allowed female dancers to have sex with guests.

The victim alleged she was forced to have sex with men of different nationalities, claiming in her statement on July 4 last year, the supervisor asked her to have sex with a customer in a hotel on Shaikh Zayed Road.

When she refused, he threatened to lock her up and repay costs he had incurred in order to bring her to the UAE. However, once at the hotel, she managed to call the police.

The Pakistani visitor, with whom the alleged victim was supposed to have sex that night, told officers that he went to the nightclub and saw the woman dancing and liked her.

He asked the supervisor if he could have sex with her and the defendant agreed. He was asked to pay AED 2000 on top of his meal and drinks bill in the nightclub.

It was then alleged that the following morning around 5am, the dancer was brought to his hotel room.

The Pakistani visitor told the court she was looking pale and in a bad mood. He then said she told him that she had family problems and that her mother was sick at which point he went to sleep without having sex.

About 10 am, the woman, accompanied by the police knocked on his door and he was taken to the police department.

The trial continues.