The Public Prosecution had charged the suspect with forcing the 31-year-old
Nepalese, "BM", into the sex industry and threatening to harm her if she did
not.
He was charged with being involved in her death by way of forced prostitution
after she died of AIDS.
The hotel worker was also alleged to have been keeping the money she received
from clients.
Lawyer Karunagappaly Shamsudeen, of Al Kabban Advocates and Legal Consultants,
said in his defence, "My client did not force the victim into prostitution
because they shared a villa with other families. It would have been impossible
for him to do so in the presence of all those families. Her claims were
baseless and unverified. Besides, "MQ" wasn't responsible for her getting AIDS,
as he, who she claimed slept with her, didn't get the illness."
Though the defense failed to elaborate on how the suspect's failure to contract
the HIV/AIDS virus proved his innocence, the court nonetheless seems to have
been swayed by the arguement.
A few days before her death, the victim told the police at a hospital, where
she was undergoing treatment, that the suspect received her at Dubai
International Airport when she came to work as a maid.
'False statement'
He housed her in a flat and used to drive her to people to sleep with them, she
had said. "That was against my will and under his continuous threats to abuse
me," she told the police.
A prosecution witness said the victim asked him for help because she didn't
have a passport or residence permit.
He said she was crying, tired and in a bad condition when he met her.
Shamsudeen added, "She gave a false statement. She worked for a family for 10
days before she ran away. Besides, my client couldn't have forced her into
prostitution because she had the freedom to move and that's how she managed to
escape from the villa."
Again the defense failed to explain how her 'freedom' that she 'escaped' from
was evidence that she may not have been forced into prostitution. The court
again did not balk.
Medical reports said she suffered weakness, headache, nausea, anorexia, sore
throat and weight loss.
She underwent radiological investigations, including CT scan of brain which was
normal and through subsequent tests was found to be HIV positive before she
died earlier this month.
