Promised Her Work, Then Locked Her Up Without Water, Food, or Electricity

According to the 24-year-old victim, she came to Bahrain as a domestic worker. The defendant brought her and sent her to work in several houses without paying her salaries, under his supervision.

She stated that when she told the defendant she wanted to stop working and return to her home country, he detained her in different buildings and assaulted her by slapping her on the face. He also deprived her of food. The accommodation had no electricity. She explained that he did this to force her to change her mind and to obtain money from her.

A second witness, who works as a company supervisor, testified that while going up to the rooftop of the building where he lives, he heard a girl screaming for help. He saw her in the opposite building, crying and asking for water. He threw her a bottle of water, and she told him she was being detained by the defendant and could not leave the building. He then helped her by reporting the matter to the police.

During the Public Prosecution investigation, the defendant admitted that he had sent her to work in several houses to earn money.

When the police went to the place where the victim was being held, they found that the door was locked from the outside. The place was unfit for living and had no electricity.

A review of the defendant’s criminal record showed that he had previously been accused in similar cases.

The Public Prosecution charged the 36-year-old defendant with human trafficking, stating that he recruited, transported, and sheltered the victim while she was in a vulnerable condition in which her consent could not be considered valid. He exploited her for forced labor by making her work without pay. When she refused to work, he unlawfully detained her to obtain money and unpaid wages, using threats, assault, and deprivation of liberty.

He was also charged with unlawfully depriving her of her freedom, preventing her from escaping, forcing her into labor, and physically assaulting her. The assault did not result in illness or prevent her from carrying out her personal activities for more than twenty days.