Indian dancers are locked up in Dubai

DUBAI: The death of a Pakistani dancer here last week due to fire that broke out in a locked flat has brought to notice the plight of dancers, a majority of them Indians, who perform at hotels in the Gulf nation.

A majority of hotels run night clubs that employ female performers hailing from India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh. Some hotels even have dedicated Indian night clubs where the singers and dancers are Indians. These girls perform throught out the year except during the holy month of Ramadan when public entertainment is banned.

After their duty that ends in the wee hours, they are taken to their flats and kept locked up. Aaina had died in a blaze on July 30 as she could not escape because she was locked up inside her flat. After her death, many Asian dance clubs have stopped locking up their dancers in flats.

“We have at least two female caretakers in the flat where around 15 girls stay. Both the caretakers have flat keys in case they need to go out in emergencies,” a manager of a leading Indian dance club in Bur Dubai told the Gulf News.

The police has also warned that such acts would amount to criminal offence and legal action could be initaited against offenders. However, despite all these, many clubs are still keeping the girls locked up in flat rooms, the report added.