Govanhill trafficking trial hears woman was forced into marriage

A woman told a slavery trial that she was brought to the UK for a forced marriage to a Pakistani man.

At the High Court in Glasgow, the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told prosecutor Kath Harper: “I was about to have a marriage with him. Before it happened I went to Slovakia. It was supposed to be a forced marriage.”

She was giving evidence at the High Court in Glasgow, in the trial of Vojtech Gombar, 61, Anil Wagle, 37, Jana Sandorova, 28, and Ratislav Adam, 31, who deny trafficking women into Scotland for prostitution and slavery.

Prosecutors allege that women were brought over from Slovakia and held in “slavery or servitude” between 2011 to 2017.

The woman, who said she did not know her age or her birthday, said in evidence, speaking though an interpreter, that she was married and pregnant in 2014 when accused Gombar came to her house in Slovakia.

Ms Harper asked her: “What did he say,” and she replied: “He said if I would like to live with a Pakistani man and I asked if he would want me with a baby.”

The woman said she had never heard of Glasgow or Scotland and believed she was in England after being brought from Slovakia by bus.

Ms Harper asked the witness, a mother-of-one: “When they said you could go to England what did you want to do,” and she replied: “To be a cleaner.”

The witness, who was speaking via a video link from Slovakia, said that she spent her first night in the UK sleeping on the floor of Gombar's flat.

She was asked where she went after that and said that she went to live with the Pakistani man, who was called Mohammed Nadim Rafiq and added: “I had nowhere else to go.”

Ms Harper then asked: “Did you want to live with Nadim,” and the witness said: “No, I didn't know him, I was worried.”

The jury was told that Nadim spoke English and she spoke Slovakian.

The witness was asked: “Did you like living with Nadim,” and replied: “No.”

The rposecutor asked who had the witness's identification papers were while she was living with Nadim and she said: “Vojtech or the the Pakistani man.”

She said that Nadim went out to work and she would clean and iron.

The court heard that Nadim was taken away by the police and she was questioned by Home Office officials in Liverpool.

Ms Harper said: “After Nadim was taken by the police what happened to you,” and she replied: “I have to go home because I didn't speak any English.”

The witness was asked if she ever saw Gombar again.

At first she said no. but then agreed that in January 2015 she told police: “Gombar came to find me so I could go and live with another Pakistani man.”

All four accused, who live in Govanhill, Glasgow, are alleged of 'conspiring to commit the crime of trafficking people for exploitation and trafficking in prostitution.”

Gombar, Sandorova and Adam are also charged with compelling women to work as prostitutes and managing a brothel. They are alleged to have told one woman they would make her homeless unless she worked as a prostitute and threatened another with violence.

The charge claims they did “discuss plans to purchase or obtain control and ownership of women” from Slovakia and elsewhere in the UK.

The accusations are said to have been “aggravated by a connection with serious and organised crime”.

The trial before Lord Beckett continues.