Dubai court upholds jail terms for kidnappers of 2 Pinays

A Dubai court has upheld a 10-year jail term for two Bangladeshis who were convicted for kidnapping two Filipino domestic helpers and trying to push them into prostitution last year. The Court of Appeal, presided by Judge Ahmed Mohammed Eissa, also upheld the deportation order for the two defendants, according to a report in the United Arab Emirates news site Khaleej Times. Last May 4, the Court of First Instance sentenced the two to 10 years of imprisonment after finding them guilty of the charges. It ordered the two deported after serving their term. The court however did not find the respondents guilty of rape. Court records showed the defendants, both in their 30s, kidnapped two Filipina helpers on April 5 last year in Abu Dhabi. The victims then were taken to an apartment in the Naif area and confined for a couple of days where they were allegedly raped and forced into prostitution. They were only rescued when one of them managed to contact her Saudi Arabia-based sister, who alerted the authorities. One of the victims said they were having an evening stroll with an Indonesian woman when three men approached them and forced them into a car that took them to a house. She said there were Indonesian women who admitted working as prostitutes inside the house. The second complainant claimed the defendants raped her. - JA/KBK, GMANews.TV