Three-wheeler driver jailed for 10 years over trafficking Uzbek woman for prostitution

The Colombo High Court has sentenced a three-wheeler driver to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs. 10,000 after finding him guilty of bringing a young Uzbek woman to Sri Lanka on the promise of employment and forcing her into prostitution through threats and coercion.

High Court Judge Lanka Jayaratne delivered the verdict.

The Attorney General had filed the case under Section 360A(1) of the Penal Code over the procuring of Uzbek national Oksana Karpova for prostitution at a Colombo hotel on 1 January 2021.

In late 2020, Karpova was offered employment in Sri Lanka through a fellow Uzbek woman identified as “Jasmine”, who was living in the country. She was promised either a job paying US$1,500 a month or work caring for children, and travelled to Sri Lanka using an air ticket and visa sent by Jasmine.

After arriving at Bandaranaike International Airport, she was met by Jasmine and Jasmine’s Sri Lankan husband, a three-wheeler driver identified as “Lawrence”. She was then taken directly to a house in Negombo, where she was forced to provide sexual services to a foreign national on the same day.

She was later kept at an apartment in Wellawatte, while her passport was taken away and she was denied access to communication, leaving her under the couple’s control.

Karpova eventually contacted her mother secretly by telephone. Following a complaint made by her mother to Uzbek police, Sri Lanka’s Criminal Investigation Department intervened, rescued her and placed her in a safe house.

During the trial, the accused maintained that he was innocent, but the prosecution relied on evidence including bank records.

The court was told that part of the money paid by a person who had obtained sexual services at a Colombo hotel on 31 December 2020 had been deposited into Lawrence’s personal bank account.

The judge found that the prosecution had proved the charge beyond reasonable doubt and determined that the offence had been carried out in an organised manner before imposing the sentence.