Woman in court for trafficking maids 

Source: Woman in court for trafficking maids | The Herald

Prosper Dembedza Court Correspondent

A 29-year-old Harare woman yesterday appeared in court for recruiting unsuspecting housemaids and taking them to Oman where they were subjected to torture and slavery.

Tendai Muswe was facing human trafficking charges when she appeared before Harare magistrate Mrs Yeukai Dzuda.

She was remanded in custody to today for bail ruling.

The State opposed bail and called its witness, the investigating officer who stated that Muswe was still in contact with her accomplices, who are still at large and granting her bail would jeopardise investigations.

The court heard that sometime between October 2021 and January 2022, Muswe recruited several Zimbabwean ladies to go and work in Oman as house maids.

Court papers show that Muswe misrepresented through the recruitment process that all the victims they recruited would receive lucrative salaries in Oman.

She also secured all the required travelling documents for the victims.

The court heard Muswe’s accomplices in Oman sent air tickets and visas to both accused and the victims through WhatsApp.

It is alleged that the victims departed on different dates to Oman, where upon arrival, they were sold for labour exploitation and servitudes to their employers.

The court heard that while in Oman, the complainants were subjected to verbal abuse and labour exploitation through working for long hours a day without being paid.

They worked without time off and were not allowed to communicate with the outside world as their cell phones and passports were allegedly confiscated by their agents and the Oman immigration officials.

The State prosecution notified the court that only one victim has managed to come back to Zimbabwe.