Women duped in jobs scam
Feb 21 2012 7:12AM
Women duped in jobs scam
Zodidi Mhlana
KwaZulu-Natal police are investigating a human trafficking case involving nine young South African women.It has emerged that nine women were lured out of the country after being promised job opportunities in foreign countries.
“The girls are believed to have been lured after being promised jobs. They have told us that the job advert looked authentic,” said a policeman, speaking on condition of anonymity.
During the interview, the women were told that they would be transporting shoes between different countries for an international company called – Shoes Unlimited.
After securing the jobs, they were taken to Bangladesh to start working for the shoe company. But when they got to the Asian country, the women were informed that they would be working as drug mules. They were also physical and sexually attacked daily.
The alarm was raised to the human trafficking case following the escape of three women from Bangladesh who alerted the police about what was happening.
The three women are in a place of safety in Durban.
Patricia Gerber, director of Locked Up, said: “There are so many young people who have fallen for this and ended up as drug mules in foreign countries. It’s easy to be drawn into this without knowing.”
Meanwhile, four men accused of human trafficking and involvement in child sex appeared in the Durban Magistrate’s Court yesterday. They will apply for bail on Friday.
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it