African woman punished for trafficking and forced labour

TDT | Manama     

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The High Criminal Court has sentenced an African woman to five years in prison and fined her BD5,000 for human trafficking and forced labour.

The woman, who lured young women from her home country to Bahrain with false promises of employment, was also ordered to pay for the victims’ repatriation and will be deported after serving her sentence.

The court found the woman guilty of exploiting the victims’ vulnerable situation and coercing them into working without pay.

As per the case records, the African woman had advertised fake job opportunities on Facebook and then confiscated the victims’ passports and money upon their arrival in Bahrain.

The women were then forced to work in the defendant’s home without proper compensation or identification documents.

One of the victims testified that she had seen an ad on Facebook offering a well-paying job in Bahrain. She contacted the defendant, who promised to sponsor her work visa.

Physical abuse

However, upon arriving in Bahrain, the defendant confiscated her passport and money and forced her to work without pay. The victim was also subjected to physical abuse.

An investigation revealed that the defendant had committed similar offenses against other young women.

She would lure them to Bahrain with false promises of employment and then exploit them for financial gain.

The court documents, however, didn’t mention how the victims reported the incident to the police or who had rescued them.