‘I Was Sold To A Sheikh' We Pay!

BEAUTIFUL, ambitious and bright-eyed, Lana Enslin had already made a giant name for herself overseas and featured on the covers of several glossy magazines.

When the opportunity came for her to travel to Dubai and expand her modelling career, she jumped at the chance. Little did Lana know the trip would alter her life forever.

Speaking of the ordeal, Lana says, “A friend and I decided to buy plane tickets and just go to Dubai with no plan. Friends of my parents had an extra room and allowed us to stay a month. I had lived in Dubai before and I always felt safe. Wilhelmina Models signed me and said I was allowed to freelance at my own risk. I did many freelance jobs and they were always with good, legitimate clients.” While in Dubai, Lana made friends with an Australian expat. He would invite her to his family home where they would braai and play cards. Lana met his mom and grandma, as well as his aunts. They were platonic friends for a good few months. At the same time modelling work was drying up and Lana found herself scrambling for opportunities to boost her income. That’s when her friend stepped in and said he could help.

“He told me he had some friends who ran jewellery businesses and that if they wanted to do a photoshoot, he would put me forward for the job. What I did not know was that he had a side-gig. It was to gain western girls’ trust so he could sell them off to rich sheikhs. Usually the police are involved, ready to arrest the girl for prostitution once the man was done with her. Sometimes they are killed and their bodies get dumped somewhere. The stories about girls disappearing in Dubai and taken by sheikhs are true – I witnessed this first-hand. In fact, I narrowly escaped with my own life after being sold to a sheikh who wanted to rape and kill me.”