Dubai:
Three Indians working at a Dubai hotel have been accused of confining 19 women co-workers, all of them from the Philippines, inside a villa for over a month, not allowing them to go out even during their free time or holidays.
The three men claimed they wanted to protect the women from sexual harassment, the Dubai Court of First Instance heard yesterday.
The men, who are out on bail, pleaded not guilty, Gulf News reported.
Prosecution records said the 19 Filipinas worked for the hotel as receptionists, housekeepers, cleaners and maids, the report said.
As soon as the women finished work, the trio would lock them inside the villa and keep them confined until the next morning, according to prosecution records.
The women said a bus would collect them at 7 am and bring them back at 8 pm when their shift was over.
One of the housekeepers, a 30-year-old identified in records only by her initials MN, testified that she had been working for the hotel in Al Muraqqabat for two years.
"I was hired on a 600 dirhams salary. Since I started work, the senior workers told me that it was against the hotel's policy to go out of the residence during free time or after work or on holidays. As soon as we returned to the residence, the defendants would lock the doors and prevent us from going out," MN claimed to prosecutors.
"We were forced to agree because we had no other choice and we were forced also to be obedient to earn a living...even during officials holidays we remained confined. During the confinement period, nobody treated us badly," she said.