Two expats who trafficked a mother-of-two, who travelled to Bahrain believing that she would earn a good amount of money from sex work, have been sentenced to five years in prison and fined BD2,000 each.
The High Criminal Court also ordered the Thai nationals to bear the repatriation cost of the victim, a 40-year-old fellow national, and their deportation upon the completion of their sentences.
They were convicted of sex trafficking, coercion, and subjecting the victim to ‘slave-like conditions’ by selling her.
Last month, the court heard that a Thai pimp, known as ‘Pepsi’, who was previously convicted of sex trafficking and deported to her home country, sent ‘girls’ to Bahrain to work in the vice trade with the help of an accomplice, named ‘Sonya’.
According to case details, when the victim asked to quit her job as an erotic masseuse, the defendants sold her to a pimp based in Saudi Arabia for BD300, leading her to report the racket to the police.
They exploited the victim’s earnings as a source of income and deprived her of her passport, which was handed to them for safekeeping. Pepsi stood trial in absentia.
According to the victim’s testimony during a hearing on July 23, she saw an advert on social media about a job opportunity for sexual massage services overseas.
She contacted the person behind it, who happened to be the first defendant, and agreed that the defendant would arrange travel and a visa, bring customers, and they would share the profit. The victim promised that she would pay the defendant BD1,600 from what she made.
The victim arrived in the kingdom and was received by Sonya, who took her from place to place and supervised her work. She took the victim’s passport and all the money she earned from sex work.
She stated that the business was run out of a licensed massage parlour on Exhibition Road.
However, when she decided to leave the brothel, the defendants allegedly refused to return her passport, and sold her to a pimp operating in Saudi Arabia.
The 40-year-old managed to make a call to the police, which led to the arrest of the second defendant, Sonya.
During questioning, Sonya reportedly admitted to everything, stating that Pepsi would send women from Thailand to join the vice trade in Bahrain and she would follow her orders, and run the business on her behalf.
A policeman told the Public Prosecution that the first defendant was deported some time ago for engaging in prostitution, and that she lured the victim into coming to Bahrain to offer sexual massages.
She took advantage of the victim’s circumstances, and made her believe that prostitution was lucrative, and that she would be able to pay her debts and live a comfortable life.
The case was adjourned to yesterday, and the judges issued the aforementioned verdict.
&uuid=(email))