A teenage girl ‘seeking honest work’ was forced into prostitution by an older woman, who took advantage of her difficult circumstances and put her through a nightmarish ordeal.
The Pakistani woman was sentenced to seven years in prison and fined BD2,000 by the High Criminal Court on charges of sex trafficking. It also ordered that she pay for the victim’s repatriation to her home country and be deported after completing her sentence. The Supreme Criminal Appeals Court later upheld the ruling.
The 17-year-old Pakistani victim had vehemently refused to get into the vice trade, and insisted on taking up an honest job, but was forced to surrender to a bitter reality by the suspect, the court heard.
Methods of ‘intimidation and fear’ were used by the suspect, including threatening to ruin the girl’s reputation back home by informing her family that she had become a sex worker, as well as making threats of physical violence.
The suspect also reportedly threatened to send a person to beat up her family members in Pakistan if the teenager did not comply.
“The girl was lured by an accomplice of the defendant, who gave her the number of an unknown woman promising job opportunities abroad,” read the initial ruling.
“The number belonged to the defendant, who later turned out to be part of a network of sex traffickers exploiting young women.
“She deceived the victim, telling her there were job opportunities in Bahrain at restaurants or salons for a decent wage, and that she would cover travel expenses.
“Due to the girl’s need, she agreed to the offer and travelled to Saudi Arabia, where an unknown individual picked her up and brought her to Bahrain via the causeway.
“The defendant received her in a Juffair flat, which was to become her new lodging, without giving her more information about the work or the residence.”
The next day, the defendant told the girl she was to enter the vice trade, but the teenager completely rejected the idea and repeated her demands to work in an aboveboard job. But when she refused to co-operate, the defendant forced her into it, ‘exploiting her young age, lack of experience and difficult circumstances’, court documents added.
On top of the various threats of assault and scandal, she also threatened to make her repay the expenses of her travel to Bahrain, which made the girl surrender to her bitter reality.
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