Man gets jail, caning for human trafficking after tricking Singaporean woman into sex work in Dubai
The woman thought Achraf Arjaouy was a wealthy pilot who wanted to marry her, and engaged in sex work to raise funds so she could go with him to Qatar.
A Singaporean woman, aged between 30 and 31 in early 2021, met an Italian man named Achraf Arjaouy on dating app Tinder. The woman believed Arjaouy was a wealthy pilot from Qatar who wished to marry her. She began engaging in sex work to accumulate funds to join him in Qatar. However, when they arrived in Dubai in April 2021, Arjaouy demanded she prove her financial capability by raising US$10,000 before she could enter Qatar.
To meet this requirement, he coerced her into engaging in sexual activities, collecting daily earnings. The woman complied for several months, contracting a sexually transmitted disease (STD) in mid-September 2021. After realizing the truth, she ceased participating in sex work and returned to Singapore a few months later. Arjaouy was arrested in Singapore in November 2023 for an unrelated offense.
He was convicted of human trafficking under the Prevention of Human Trafficking Act, receiving an eight-year prison sentence, six canings, and a S$9,000 fine. The prosecution did not pursue compensation as Arjaouy has no means to pay. The judge rejected Arjaouy's claims of trafficking and questioned the victim's credibility based on her physical appearance, stating that one does not need to be tall, fair, or have long hair to succeed in sex work.
Written by urgent.news from Channel News Asia's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
