Human trafficking gang jailed

TDT | Manama

The First High Criminal Court announced yesterday its final verdict in a human trafficking case that involves two Bangladeshi men and two Indonesian women, who were all found guilty by the court. The court sentenced three of the defendants to three years in jail and fined them BD2,000 each, while the primary defendant received a five-year prison sentence and a BD5,000 fine.

Confirming the news, Capital Governorate Chief Prosecutor Abdullah Al Banki said in a statement that the court also ordered to shut down the building in which the victim was locked and forced by the defendants to practice prostitution.

Al Banki also explained that the court obliged all four defendants to collectively bear the expenses of the victim’s repatriation, and to deport them after they complete their jail time. According to the victim, an Indonesian domestic worker, the incident began in April this year, when she was persuaded by one of the female defendants to escape from her employer’s house.

The victim said she was convinced after she was promised a job as a part-time housemaid with better pay. The victim said in her statements that she was taken to an apartment in Hoora in the Capital Governorate, where she was locked and forced to repeatedly have sex with different customers in return for amounts of money that were collected by the prime defendant.

The details of the case further showed that the victim was able to reach out to the Indonesian Embassy in Bahrain and share her ordeal. The embassy immediately reported the matter to Hoora Police Station and a force of policewomen was appointed to further investigate the complaint.

The force soon raided the apartment and was able to free the woman and arrest three of the suspects, namely one of the men and both women. The prime suspect confessed in the interrogation that he has been working in Bahrain for 12 years and that he has been in an illicit relationship with one of the female defendants for five years.

He also said that he brought customers to have sex with his girlfriend for BD5. The man further told interrogators that the gang expanded after the other female defendant joined them in their illegal activities, while the second male defendant’s task was to assist in attracting customers to the brothel and promote their activities.