Picture used for illustrative purpose only.

Hamza M Sengendo, Staff Reporter

Dubai Police rescued an underage girl from a prostitution den and arrested two members of a sexual exploitation gang. Both men confessed in court on Thursday.

The Asian builder, 28, who worked as the brothel clerk and a compatriot visitor, 20, who worked as a pimp allegedly teamed up with a fugitive boss and his colleague to lure the Bangladeshi girl, 17, into coming to the UAE.

They had promised to employ her as a masseuse. They obtained for her a passport with an exaggerated age. The boss and his colleague took her to the brothel in Al Quoz were she was forced into prostitution.

Besides human trafficking, prosecutors charged the duo with taking part in running the brothel, facilitating activities to five (deported) streetwalkers and benefiting from their proceeds until police stormed on Apr.7.

They were collecting Dhs80 from each client, records showed. Both men confessed. Prosecutors demanded the toughest punishment applicable. The Criminal Court adjourned the hearing till Jul.8 to find them a lawyer.

On the record, the girl said she was in her homeland when a female friend told her a broker knew employers in Dubai. The broker connected her with the brothel boss’s colleague. The gang covered her travel expenses.

The boss and his colleague picked her up along with two other girls from the Dubai airport and took them to an apartment. The colleague stalled to take her to massage spa where she was supposed to work as promised.

She asked women in the apartment what they were doing. One of them laughed and told her the nature of their work. She was crying when the colleague entered and asked her. She told him she did not want that kind of work.

He vowed never to return her to her homeland unless she repaid 300, 000 Taka (Dhs13, 000) that was spent on bringing her to the UAE. He told her the only way to raise it was to join work. She cried and fell sick for a week.

Thereafter, he took her to the brothel being managed by the builder and the visitor. Whenever a client entered, the duo would put her and the other women on display for him to choose. He would then pay them Dhs80.

The girl complained that the colleague confined her to the brothel with the help of the builder and the visitor. She used to tell her ordeal to clients. An Asian client had pity on her and provided her a CID number. Her female friend called police.