Four Women Escape Hotel After Being Forced to Entertain Guests

TDT | By Mohammed Darwish
TDT | Manama
Email : editor@newsofbahrain.com

ured to Bahrain with promises of waitress jobs, four Arab women instead found themselves trapped in a grim web of exploitation. Forced to entertain nightclub customers, their passports seized and wages withheld, the women eventually fled and exposed what authorities are now calling a case of human trafficking.

One of the victims recounted that she and her companions had arrived in Bahrain expecting to work as waitresses in a hotel. Instead, they were met at the airport by the second defendant, who confiscated their passports and restricted their movements under instructions from the first defendant—a hotel investor.

Once inside the hotel, the women were forced into the nightclub to entertain customers, earning money they would never see. When the first victim protested and said she wanted to leave, she was threatened with deportation and the loss of her pay. Fearing further retribution, she escaped the hotel with another victim and reported the ordeal to the authorities.

Investigations revealed that the first defendant, a businessman with a prior conviction for similar crimes, had orchestrated the scheme with the help of the second defendant. Together, they allegedly confined the women, denied them their pay, and used intimidation to keep them compliant.

The second defendant reportedly admitted during questioning that he brought the women to Bahrain at the request of the first defendant, seized their passports, and forced them to work outside their agreed roles. He also disclosed that the first defendant had not paid the women for their work.

Prosecutors have charged both men with trafficking the women, accusing them of exploiting their vulnerability, confiscating their passports, and forcing them into labour against their will. The women’s lack of freedom, constant surveillance, and inability to escape painted a ghastly picture of their captivity.

The High Criminal Court has scheduled a hearing for 10 December to address the allegations. Meanwhile, authorities are examining the first defendant’s criminal history, which includes convictions for related offences.