SINGAPORE —A man who promised to marry a Singaporean woman, only to make her perform sex work in Dubai later, has been convicted of human trafficking.
The woman contracted an undisclosed sexually transmitted disease and flew back to Singapore.
On April 22, District Judge Eugene Teo found Italian citizen Achraf Arjaouy, 31, guilty of the offence following a trial.
In convicting Achraf, the judge said that the woman’s evidence was “backed up by incriminating WhatsApp messages”, some of which were from the offender.
Judge Teo also noted that Achraf had denied trafficking the victim, identified as V1 in court documents.
Achraf had earlier said that the evidence she gave was “incredible”, given her physical appearance, and that it was simply not believable that she would have successfully become a sex worker.
In response to this, Judge Teo said that the nature of this argument was “objectionable”, adding: “It is objectively an argument that draws its strength from standing on top of the proposition that only particular physical properties are capable of being attractive.”
Stressing that this proposition is not true, the judge said that the current case showed that one does not have to be particularly tall, fair in complexion, or even have a full head of hair to get by on one’s looks.
He also said that there is “no universally accepted standard of beauty”.
“The simple fact of the matter is that humanity’s diversity in taste runs very wide, and there is no accounting for it.”
Achraf had also stated earlier that a “real victim” would have behaved differently during her ordeal.
Without revealing details, the judge said this argument draws its strength from a stereotype that real victims could be expected to behave or react in a certain way.
Judge Teo added: “Both history and experience have shown that the stereotype is thoroughly outdated and unreliable.
“The fact of the matter is that human beings react in a multitude of ways to any given situation. Any argument based upon that stereotype really has little merit.”
Achraf will be sentenced on July 24.
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In earlier proceedings, the court heard that he arrived in Singapore in March 2021 and matched with V1 on Tinder the following month.
The prosecution had said: “During a whirlwind courtship, the accused told the victim that he wanted to marry her in Qatar... The victim was overjoyed and agreed to travel with the accused to Dubai en route to Qatar.”
However, Achraf never intended to take V1 to Qatar and did not want to marry her, the court heard.
Court documents stated that Achraf had lied to V1 that he came from a wealthy Qatari family and was a pilot for Qatar Airways.
According to the prosecution, he had told V1 that their relationship would end if she refused to travel with him to Dubai.
The prosecutors said the victim agreed to leave her life in Singapore behind, and the pair travelled to the United Arab Emirates on April 21, 2021.
The prosecutors also told the court that while there, Achraf further deceived V1 by claiming that she needed to show US$10,000 (S$12,700) as “proof of funds” to enter Qatar.
Although this was not true, his claim “threw the victim’s dreams into flux because she did not have this money”.
“For his part, the accused knew that the victim did not have access to funds of this magnitude,” the prosecution said.
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“The accused capitalised on the victim’s confusion by embarking on a campaign of physical and psychological torture. He committed acts of violence, subjected the victim to humiliating and invasive sexual acts, degraded her, and threatened to mutilate her.”
The prosecution said Achraf told V1 that she should engage in prostitution to raise the US$10,000.
The court heard that she gave in after he pestered her.
“The accused arranged for the victim to engage in prostitution. He took intimate photographs of her, created profiles for her on escort websites in Dubai, solicited customers for her, and booked a hotel for her to provide sexual services,” said the prosecutors.
They also told the court that Achraf collected V1’s earnings every day.
Court documents stated that V1 stopped engaging in prostitution in September 2021 after contracting a sexually transmitted disease.
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She flew back to Singapore two months later.
The prosecution added that her mother had alerted the police shortly after V1 left for Dubai.
Separately, Ashraf has 16 other pending charges, including multiple counts of cheating, and these will be dealt with at a later date.
He is also accused of assaulting another woman, who is his ex-girlfriend, in October 2025.
She had earlier posted bail for him before it was revoked, and he is now in remand.
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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.
