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A hotel owner and a general manager were each yesterday sentenced to three years in prison for trafficking five young women from Morocco, including two girls aged 17.
The High Criminal Court also fined the Bahraini investor and Egyptian hotel manager BD2,000 each, and ordered them to pay for the repatriation of the women.
They were not only convicted of human trafficking, but also forcing the women to work by holding them captive against their will and taking away their passports.
Court documents state that the two men fooled the Moroccans by offering them jobs as waitresses and baristas in the Hoora hotel, only to force them to dance for long hours in the joint’s nightclub.
The women were also made to sit with customers, drink alcohol with them, and perform acts described by the Public Prosecution as ‘inappropriate’.
“Customers were sometimes allowed to behave towards the victims in ways that border on sexual assault, without the women’s agreement or consent,” read verdict documents.
“Investigations show that the two defendants made security guards watch the victims at all times to prevent them from leaving or communicating with anyone.
“They weren’t allowed to go out without the Egyptian defendant’s permission, and were threatened with deportation and non-payment of wages if they did not do as they were asked.”
Verdict documents revealed that the 58-year-old owner “exploited his position, as the person responsible for the hotel, and misused his authority over the employees” to direct the 34-year-old manager to recruit and trick the victims.
The GDN earlier reported that shortly after arriving in Bahrain, the women were driven to a hotel in Manama where they were held in ‘abhorrent conditions’ against their will.
They were denied their freedom and forced to do jobs contrary to what had been agreed upon and when they resisted, were insulted and threatened with violence. Additionally, they worked for long hours without time off.
A 21-year-old victim had managed to escape the hotel with the help of one of the other women, and reported her ordeal to the police.
She stated that she came to Bahrain after a Moroccan recruiter promised her a job with a BD400 salary in Bahrain, but was met with a terrible shock after arriving and being trapped by the Egyptian defendant.
The court heard that the Egyptian had admitted to the charges to prosecutors, while the Bahraini had denied all accusations.
After being freed, the women were moved to a shelter run by the National Committee for Combating Trafficking in Persons.
Commercial registration (CR) records show that the first defendant bought the hotel in Hoora in 1999 from a prominent Bahraini merchant family, who had opened the business in 1990.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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