Bahrain: A teenager who was promised a job as a manager, was locked up, tortured and forced into prostitution, before she was rescued by a man “who fell in love with her”.
The 17-year-old Russian was allegedly held captive by three Russian female pimps, who beat her using a belt when she refused to have sex with customers, according to court documents.
They then forced her into the vice trade after locking her up in an apartment on Exhibition Avenue for four months, where she was forced to have sex with 20 men every day.
However, she was then rescued by the police, after a Saudi man who “fell in love with her” informed authorities about her ordeal.
“A woman in Russia told me that she had a company in Bahrain and that she would hire me as a manager,” the victim told prosecutors.
“I came to Bahrain and three women (defendants aged 22, 34 and 36) took me to an apartment, where I slept.
“The following morning I was woken up by one of the women, nicknamed ‘Milana’ (the youngest defendant), and she said I had to have sex with men for money.
“I refused, so they held me captive without any food in the apartment.
“I would cry every day for a week and refused to be a prostitute.
“The three would beat me using a belt, their bare hands and legs until I succumbed to them from the pain.”
She described how she managed to escape with the help of the Saudi man, who posed as a customer.
“I met a Saudi man who fell in love with me,” she said.
“He would pay money at the reception just to see me and not have sex.
“He gave me an iPhone 6 and a gold chain but one of the women (defendant aged 35) snatched them from me and assaulted me.
“On our initial attempt I failed to escape, when the security guard of the apartment caught us.
“He (the guard) took me back to the apartment and my friend (the Saudi man) left.
“They (the alleged female pimps) took me to another apartment, but I was rescued by the police when my Saudi friend found out the location.
The three women appeared before a judge, where they denied the charges of torture and human trafficking.
They were further remanded in custody and will appeal before another judge on March 18.
However, they admitted having sex with customers for money and one of them claimed the victim became a prostitute of her own free will.
She said that she assaulted the victim only once, when she “stole” a mobile phone belonging to one of the “customers”.
“We all had sex with men for money,” she said in her statement.
“I did not force her (the victim) to do anything she did not want.”
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