3 masseuses held for running prostitution den in Sharjah

sharjah — Three Chinese nationals — two men and a woman — and a Moroccan man allegedly ran a massage centre and facilitated prostitution, a Sharjah court heard on Sunday.

In the Sharjah Sharia Court of First Instance, a police officer testified that the police received information about women giving massages in the centre located in Sharjah industrial area. A team of police officers went to the site and found business cards offering massage services and inviting customers to visit the centre.

A police officer testified that he went to the massage centre and told the Moroccan defendant, who allegedly ran the centre, that he wanted a massage. The Moroccan

I was just running a massage centre and was not involved in facilitating prostitution”

One of the defendants

told him that he could have sex for additional money.

He then took the officer to the room of one of the defendants. The officer later learnt that people from various nationalities frequented the centre. They could have sex with Asian women for Dh200 and Dh300, and with Arab women for Dh500.

The Moroccan allegedly took money from the officer and led him to a room where the first defendant agreed to massage him and also offered to have sex for money.

A second police witness testified that he was ordered to raid the centre. He reported seeing a large number of people coming to the “noisy flat”.

He said the Moroccan led him to one room, where he saw a man. The officer was told he could have sex with the man for additional money. After this, the centre was raided and all the defendants were arrested.

During the court hearing presided by judge Dr Yaqoub Al Hamadi, the four defendants pleaded not guilty. One of the defendants cried as she denied the charges, while another claimed she was not at the centre when the raid took place.

The Moroccan defendant insisted he was running a massage centre and did not facilitate prostitution.