01/08/2026
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01/08/2026
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MANAMA, Aug 1: A Pakistani man and woman who trafficked two teenage sisters across several countries and forced them into prostitution have lost their appeal against a seven-year prison sentence and a BD2,000 fine.
The 32-year-old man and the 40-year-old woman brought the two minor sisters, aged 16 and 17, to Bahrain via Saudi Arabia and exploited them in sex work, the court heard.
The High Criminal Court had earlier convicted them of depriving the girls of their freedom, coercing them into prostitution through threats of violence, and living off the proceeds of their exploitation.
In addition to the prison term and fine, the court ordered that the pair be deported after serving their sentences and pay for the victims’ return to their home country.
The defendants challenged the verdict before the Supreme Criminal Appeals Court, but the original ruling was upheld.
According to testimony, the older sister said the pair had been promised an opportunity to earn money by an unidentified person known only as “Rana” and had travelled to Bahrain for that purpose.
On arrival, the defendants reportedly took advantage of the sisters’ financial hardship, housed them in a hotel in Juffair, and forced them to meet clients in exchange for money, which they then kept.
The sisters said they initially resisted but were repeatedly threatened, locked in a room for days, and made dependent on the income from the exploitation.
The case came to light after a report reached the Anti-Human Trafficking Directorate at the General Directorate of Criminal Investigation and Forensic Science.
Authorities launched an investigation, confirmed the girls were being forced into vice work against their will, arrested the suspects, and freed the victims.
