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THREE women are on trial for allegedly running a vice ring out of a Manama apartment.
The Thai nationals – aged 36, 44 and 47 – known by their pseudonyms ‘Mickey’, ‘Linda’ and ‘May’, are facing five human trafficking charges at the High Criminal Court, for forcing a fellow national into prostitution.
They have been accused of kidnapping and imprisoning the 24-year-old victim and forcing her to join the vice trade.
They have also been accused of making a living out of the illicit earnings of the victim’s activities.
“I was deceived by ‘Mickey’ into believing that I will be a customer service employee when I come to Bahrain,” said the victim in her statement to prosecutors.
“When I arrived at the airport from Thailand, ‘May’ sent a taxi to pick me up, and I was taken to a hotel where they tried to make me commit to prostitution, but I refused.
“I was told that I would have to buy my freedom for BD900.”
According to court documents, ‘Linda’ then sold the victim for BD500, and then demanded BD1,200 from her to set her free.
The victim was taken to an apartment in a building managed by ‘Mickey’, where the defendant locked her up, beat her repeatedly and seized her passport.
A forensic medical report confirmed that the victim had sustained bruises on different parts of her body.
A Bahraini police officer involved in the arrest gave his account about the sordid affair.
“We received a report from the Thai embassy about a girl who had been kidnapped,” he told prosecutors.
“I went to the place where she was said to be held, and knocked on the door.
“The defendant, known as ‘Mickey’, answered and said there was no-one with her in the apartment.
“Then I heard a woman from inside the apartment shouting for help. She seemed scared,” the officer said.
‘Mickey’ later admitted to prosecutors that she had forced the victim to have sex with 20 men.
Meanwhile, police investigations revealed that ‘Linda’ was running a larger criminal operation of ‘buying and selling women’.
‘Linda’ admitted that she asked the victim for BD640 to send her back to Thailand, though the airfare was only BD280.
‘May’ told prosecutors that she received BD10 from every girl every time they ‘saw a customer’, amounting to BD490 a week, while ‘Linda’ received BD40.
However ‘Mickey’ and ‘May’, who are both in custody, denied all the charges in court. ‘Linda’ is currently at large.
The trial continues.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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