Picture for illustrative purposes only. ARCHIVE

Seven gang members are now in jail in Dubai for kidnapping a housemaid whom they later threatened to be sold to a brothel. The Dubai Criminal Court sentenced the Asian gang to seven years in jail and fined them Dh12,000. They will be deported after serving their sentence. The court heard that the housemaid had absconded from her employer to work in a massage center as a prostitute before she was kidnapped. The court sentenced her to six months in jail, followed by deportation. The court also sentenced the massage centre manager and his partner to one year in jail and fined them Dh100,000. They will be deported after serving their jail term. According to records, the kidnapping happened in August last year in Grand Souq in Dubai. The housemaid said she was massaging a man when gang members posing as policemen entered the room and forced her and another woman to get into a car. She was later locked up inside a room in another emirate and told to pay Dh10,000 for her release. She was able to give them a total of Dh3,000, of which Dh2,500 came from her brother whom she contacted to provide the ransom amount. Surveillance camera footage showed the gang members entering the massage centre and stealing mobile phones and Dh8,000 before kidnapping the housemaid and another woman. The women were forced to work as prostitutes, and threatened that they would be sold to a brothel if they did not pay the ransom. ICA/Expat Media
For all the latest news from the UAE and the world, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and subscribe to our YouTube page