A Nairobi court on Wednesday, June 16 jailed city businessman Shaikh Furoan Hussein for three years.
Hussein was issued the sentence for exploiting nine belly dancers from Nepal and Pakistan who worked at his Balle Balle club in Parklands, Nairobi County.
In one of the court sessions in December 2020, Milimani law court Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi heard that the nine dancers were never paid salaries but survived on tips from clients.
The court heard that the nine had been promised salaries while in Nepal - but once they arrived in the country, their bosses changed tune.
Additionally, they took their travelling documents like passports.
The case came to the limelight when detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) rescued the girls during a raid in the club.
"When police struck they found the nine girls gyrating their bellies on the dance floor but they fled into a room within the entertainment joint," Corporal Judith Kimungui testified.
Following their arrest, Hussain and his co-accused Abdul Waheed Khan were accused of trafficking through deception.
The magistrate found that the DPP, through state prosecutor Angela Fuchaka, has established a prema-facie case against Sheikh Furoan Hussein.
He, however, discharged his co-accused, Khan, for lack of evidence.
The Ministry of Interior indicated that the nine had been deported for violating regulation 26 (3) of Kenya Citizenship and Migration regulations by engaging in activities outside of what was specified in their entry documents.
