World Of Secrets - Death in Dubai: 2. Not the first to die

Episode Date: September 22, 2025

Monic’s relative heads to the UAE, like her, in pursuit of a dream. But soon after, news of her death shatters everything. Devastated and distrusting of the police’s account, Michael takes the search for truth into his own hands leading to a dramatic confrontation. This episode contains strong language. Presented by investigative journalist Runako Celina.Season 9 of World of Secrets, Death in Dubai, is a BBC Eye investigation, produced in association with Thread Studios, for the BBC World Service. Please note, the image is being used for illustrative purposes only and the person depicted in it is a model.If you feel distressed by the references in this story, please speak to a health professional, or an organisation that offers support such as Befrienders Worldwide. www.befrienders.org For UK listeners, details of organisations offering information about or support after sexual abuse, or with feelings of despair, are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline. Here’s a link to the BBC Eye documentary film, which we recommend you watch after listening to this podcast: https://bit.ly/bbcdeathindubai If you are in the UK, you can watch on iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/n12t256jg

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But if you're in the UK, you can listen to the full season right now, first, on BBC Sounds. And just to give you a heads up, this episode has some strong language. It's the weekend before Monica leaves for Dubai, and her family are throwing her a farewell party on their farm in Uganda. They've slaughtered a goat and drinks are being prepared. Monica's helping get food ready and playing with the kids.

She's excited. But someone important isn't here yet. A relative who's been like a father figure since her dad passed away. So Monica goes looking for him. She finds Michael Weeding in the family. Michael Weeding in the banana plantation nearby, and she tells him her big news. She was like, at last, I have got a job in Dubai. I said, like, oh, wow, that's good.

You're going with the company? No, she tells him. A close friend has got me a job working in a supermarket. So then I was like, how long have you been knowing this guy? She said, yeah, so I've been friends for long since I've been a company. And he has also friends in Dubai And he has been taking girls there He puts down his tools

I was like Monica If you are going to Dubai Make sure the luggage you are going to go with You check them Thursday You pack them yourself Don't allow those guys to give you anything Because I have been following The social media stories

For those girls who go to do carrying drugs and the end in prison. With this warning ringing in her ears, Monica sits down under the shade of a coffee tree. Her whole mood has changed. I saw her weeping. I saw her crying. She was Michael.

I'm moving tomorrow. What you have told me, I'm scared. At this point, Michael tries to reassure. her. Be careful, he says. But take this opportunity. I told her, if you have got a chance to go to Dubai, you go and work. But make sure you are going to do a supermarket job. We will pray for you, he tells her. I wish you the best. She was like, okay, okay now, I'm fine, I'm fine. She gathered her She wiped the tears on the face.

She went back to her mother's home. Back to her leaving party. Two days later, she's off to Dubai. Michael will never see Monica again. This is World of Secrets, Season 9, Death in Dubai. From the BBC World Service, I'm Renarko Selina. Episode 2, Not the First to Die. It's a hot, humid day in Issyngra, Monica's hometown,

and I'm grateful when Michael suggests we meet in a cool, high-ceiling church. He wanted to meet here because this is a special place. It's where Monica was baptized. Michael isn't his real name. I'm hiding my identity for this interview because what I'm telling you here, what I'm revealing to you now, they will hunt me down. He fears they will hunt him down, but he's decided he has to speak out about what happened to Monica. I have agreed to do this interview because you're BBC people, you're all over the world. You're not police officers, it's not a court.

But if this thing is aired out, we pray you hear the pastor for the justice. Justice for Monica. It's early 2022, two months after Monica left for Dubai, and Michael's now heading there too. The only destination we have was Ugandan. Who do money we work? It is Arab countries, UAE. It is a hell on earth.

They treat us badly, but there is no any other choice. An agent has promised him a job as a security guard there. He sold all of his cows to raise the money for the visa and tickets. But when Michael arrives, there's no job. The agent never had a job. He had lied to me. He's now completely dependent on this agent. He's living in a bed space this guy's found for him in Abu Dhabi. It's a tiny room stacked high with bunk beds, shared with other migrants.

Michael can't afford a phone. He has to borrow his agents to call Monica. But getting hold of her is difficult. She could send a message like now. You reply the message, within two hours, the phone is off. When Michael and Monica finally managed to talk, and she realizes the situation he's in, she immediately offers to help. Of course she does, he says. That was typical Monica.

She said, come tomorrow get a bus and call on this number. I will give you some money for upkeep. And also you see me. I was like, wow. So Michael borrows some money from his agent and makes the four-hour journey to Dubai. It's early morning when Michael arrives in Monika's neighbourhood, Albasha, a residential suburb, popular with expats, not far from the palm and Dubai Marina. He tries to get hold of her. I called the phone number she gave me. It was off.

I waited up to midday. Still, the phone was off. With no way to reach her and nowhere to stay, reluctantly, he takes the bus back to Abu Dhabi. Nearly a week, nothing. No word. He's getting more and more worried. Then, finally, Monica emerges.

She called me on video, on Instagram video. She was like, Michael, I'm sorry, that's time. You came, but my phone was off, even my phone was stolen, and I got a new phone. Her story keeps changing. It's so strange, and she won't explain what's going on. Esther, are you fine? Because maybe as a relative, she never wanted to open the other side of her life to me. That's why sometimes she could cry, then she starts smiling again.

They have a video call every week or so. Monica tries to put on a brave face but eventually she opens up to him she's in debt she tells him to the people who brought her to Dubai they're telling her she says that she owes them over 27,000 US dollars 100,000 UAE dirhams

I was like 100,000 dirhams she was like yes that's why those people they are telling me if not I have to work for them until I pay them their money. Monica says she will explain everything later, asking him to just pray for her. In some of the voice messages she sends him, she's crying.

And when Michael looks at her Instagram account, he's shocked by what he sees. In a bar, smoking shisha. Openly naked. Dancing naked. posting a video on the Instagram for everyone to see without a knicker. We just see her private parts. For someone working at the supermarket, can do that?

No. Whatever was posted on her Instagram was not posted by her. No. He thinks he knows what's going on. And that's when I knew, that's why she could not reply my messages. I knew now she was in a sexual slave trade. The struggle to reach Monica, the tearful voice messages, the mentions of debt. To Michael, it's all beginning to make sense.

I knew what she was facing. I cried. It was a very bad experience in my life to hear that. It took me some time, even days. thinking about that. If I had money, if I had already got a job, if I had already got like an ID, I could have gone to police to report what my relative were going through,

but I had no way. So the only thing I did, I had to put her in prayers. He prays and prays, and sometimes they talk. Given his own situation as an undocumented African in the UAE, there's not much he can do. But that doesn't stop him from trying, worrying, from thinking of any way that he can help her. Then, when they next managed to talk,

she tells him things are looking up for her. She's made friends with a neighbor, a Ghanaian guy, who lets her use his phone to call Michael. And she sounds happy. She said, Michael, I have got a white boyfriend. he's going to bail me out. He's going to clear these people's money and I be free. He remembers Monica telling him the guy had been a client.

He's a Muzungu, a white guy, English. She told him her situation and he's taken pity on her. He's going to rent her an apartment, sort out her visa, and most importantly, he's going to pay off the debt she owes to the men who brought her to Dubai. But then she calls a few days later, crying. The guy has stopped answering her calls. Michael's worried, but he tries to reassure her by saying,

that's a lot of money. Maybe it's just taking him a while to sort it out. It's nearly midnight on April the 30th, 2022, when she calls again. This time, her excitement's on a whole other level. She tells him, her guy has sorted every. Everything. Now, she's partying with her girlfriends, celebrating the good news. She was like, brother, tomorrow I'm free. When I'm free, you come and see me. Monica's going to be free, he remembers thinking, feeling a huge sense of relief. Everything's going to be all right.

Liz went from being interested in true crime to living true crime. My husband said, your dad's been killed. This is Hands Tide, a true crime podcast exploring the murder of Jim Milgar. I was just completely in shock. Liz's father murdered, and her mother found locked in a closet, her hands and feet bound. I didn't feel real at all. More than a decade on, she's still searching for answers. We're still fighting.

Listen to Hands Tide on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It's Sunday, and Michael heads to church. It's the one place in Abu Dhabi he gets a warm welcome. He's there all. morning, praying, singing hymns, and they give him some food. He hasn't eaten in a while. The night before, he had that call from Monica, where he remembers her saying she would soon be free.

He should be elated, but he has this strange feeling. We prayed, we went through the service at the church. I was there physically, but I don't know why I was wrote there. spiritually. After the service, he heads back to his bed space. When I reached in the room, my boss called me, Michael, come, come, come. As he still doesn't have a phone, Rita, Monica's sister, has sent an urgent message from Michael to his agent.

The message was from my sister in Uganda asking, Michael, can you confirm with us that Karunji Monica has died? It can't be true, he thinks. He only spoke to her last night. But his agent's phone is blowing up with notifications and alerts. He scrambles between them. Opening all the WhatsApp, the TikTok thing, to us all over Monica. You can hear the screams of everyone who are listening.

A Ugandan woman died instantly after she jumped off. People online are saying she fell from an apartment tower. Michael borrows money and makes the four hours. journey to Dubai. When he arrives at the scene, there's police all over. They've cordoned off the area. A crowd has gathered. Michael pushes through. Monika's remains are still on the ground. Monica's body parts were still there. If good rations in our also die. If God you can, take me too. Michael is in shock. But as Monika's only relative in the UAE, he He can't stop to grieve.

He has to find out what's happened. Back home, Monica's family are distraught. They need answers too. As soon as morning breaks, he heads to Albaresha police station. Michael's visa has run out, so he's in the UAE illegally. Like many undocumented people, he usually keeps as far away from the police as he can. But he's got to do this. At first, I asked for the passport and visa.

I showed them my passport. Said you have an expert visa. I said I don't care. Monica has died. Put me in. I just want to know why she has died. He says the police tell him they've arrested two suspects. They're in the cells now.

Then the police officer told me, The moment they reached the apartment, they found her passport and her belongings. The forensic people, they reached on the veranda. They found only Monica's fingerprints. There was drugs on the table. There was alcohol. He said, when they entered in the room and found those two evidences, they could not continue with investigations.

To Michael, this is not good enough. He keeps pushing. Then I asked him, as a police officer, have looked in the camera of the building. You have not investigated the cause of her death. The police officer was late. Do you know that this is UAE? This is not Uganda.

In UAE. When they find out someone was using drugs and was on alcohol, they stopped their investigations that they concluded she committed suicide. Did you think this investigation was enough? It was not enough at all.

Michael manages to get a death certificate from the hospital. The family in Uganda sent him the money to pay for it. But it doesn't say the cause of death. And now, he's told he has 21 days to raise the money to bring Monica home for burial. Her family is well. waiting for answers, but Michael has none and nowhere to turn.

Then he gets a call. On the line is a stranger, but he recognizes his accent. It sounds like he's from Ghana. This Ghanaian guy explained to me what had happened. This Ghanaian guy had two brothers. These brothers live in the same. same block as Monica. She'd become friends with them. One of them was the man who'd been lending her his phone so that she could call Michael. And these brothers are the two suspects in custody.

The man insists that they're innocent. He tells Michael they'd been at work all night and arrived home only after Monica had died. Michael doesn't know what to believe, but he rushes straight back to the Al-Basha police station. There, he says, the police confirmed. affirmed that the brothers arrived after Monica's fall, but they arrested them because they took photos at the crime scene. So, as me, a relative, I truly saw those boys were innocent. But you just want to put a blame on these innocent black Africans. These boys have no case.

I said, officer, leave these days to go. After a lot of negotiation, the police eventually let the brothers' guys go. on the condition they'll report back for further questioning. They're all really grateful to Michael. And that's when one of them says he can help. He said Michael, because of this, what you have done for my relatives, I'm taking you exactly to the boss. I know the boss of Monica, let me take you there.

Monica's boss, is this the Ugandan man that her sister Rita says she spoke to? The man who told her, your sister isn't normal. So that guy said, why I'm taking you, those guys are ruthless. A den of lions, he was scared of his life. They are powerful men, he's warned, with connections right to the top. Those guys are connected to police. They are connected to Ugandan embassy. So expect, expect anything from them.

And now Michael's on his way to confront them. The next morning, the Ghanaian man takes Michael to Al-Basha, to a tall apartment building called Al-Fahad. This is where Monica was living. They entered through the car park and get into the lift. Floor after floor, no one speaks. This is Michael's account of what happens next. After stepping out of the lift,

we found there Ugandan's big-bodied guys at the door. They pat him down before letting him enter the apartment. If you're not strong-hearted, you start crying immediately. Because what I saw in that room, if Bonica, that's the life she was going through, God has took her to rest. Through a haze of Shisha smoke, Michael looks around the room. People are drinking. There's cocaine on a table.

And in bedrooms and even on chairs out in the open, there are girls having sex with men. Men of them were white, by the way. Many of them were whites, even old people. But you see the girls who were there. Even Monica was much older than them. Even I cried, my sister, I cried. It was a horrible thing. We are all now looking at Monica's death.

But who is there for those young girls? They are still there. They are there. Michael, if you need a break, that is absolutely fine. Yeah, let me first have a break. Michael takes some time, has some water. But he's determined to explain what he remembers happening next. In the chaos of that room, he tries to find Monica's boss.

I started yelling, I started talking up on top of my... voice. Can I see the boss who is here? That old man came out. He was sleeping. He came out with three young girls. He was now ordering. All you bitches, go back to where are you wear. Go back to your rooms. This is Monica's boss. The Ghanaian man whispers to him. He's a tall guy, black, red eyes. with gray hair mixed with black hair. The moment I saw him, I knew the way he was looking like he was an evil guy, very evil man. He doesn't have any sympathy with anyone.

He had no sympathy. I grabbed him by neck. I was like a Ugandan. At your old age, you might have even daughters of the same age with these girls. even some of these girls are going to be your grandchildren. You brought here all these young girls. To do this, you are an old man and you're doing this. The man stares back at him, realizing who he is.

He said, oh, you were the one I hear that you're a relative to that beach. Michael stares back. I'm going to report you to the police, he tells him. The man just laughs at him and says, My dear brother, I was spent 25 years in Dubai. Dubai is mine. I'm Dubai. There is no one.

You're going to report me. Either the police, either to the king, either the very minister, embassy is me, I'm the embassy. I'm telling you this. There is no one. You are going to report me. He then says a Ugandan proverb. If you call him a cocko,

the curses of a cockerel do not kill an eagle, meaning he's so powerful there's nothing Michael can do. Their voices are raised, and all the girls, some of them half-naked, have crowded round to watch. The Ghanaian man is trying to calm Michael down, but he keeps going. I asked him, old man, what caused Karunja's death? That old man told me, even in front of those young girls, people were there in the room. Monica is not the first to die, and she will not be the last.

He was like, she's not the first one to die, and not going to be the last. Michael says there were lots of girls in the worst. apartment that day, that they saw what happened and heard everything. But given what Michael's told me about Monica's boss, will any of them talk? If I reach out to girls still under his roof, will it get back to him? I need to find out what happened to Monica, but if I tip off the man I'm investigating, he could shut everything down, or worse. I spend hours trawling through Monica's friends online, trying to work out who to approach. I send a few cautious messages. One girl blocks me straight away. Then, a couple of days later, I get a message.

There's this man who brings girls from Uganda to the prostitution. She's really nervous about talking. She's worried whatever she says will get back to this man. I try to reassure her. Hey, thank you so much. Again, I just wanted to say, I'm not trying to dig into you or anyone around you. All I want is someone who can tell me the facts when it relates to Monica and I would never ever reveal who has given me that information. Eventually, she does agree to talk.

An actor's voicing her words and we've been careful not to include any details that could reveal her identity. I ask her what went through her mind when I first got in time. At first I thought, I was scared. I thought maybe some people are trying to trick me. But I was like, maybe let me listen to you because I'm looking for justice for my friend, Mona, who died in Dubai. And up to now, no one knows what really went on. She says she was in the apartment that day.

She saw Michael confront her boss and heard what he said. He was like, she's not the first one to die, and not going to be the last. And Kira knows what world Monica was caught up in there in Dubai, because she was too. That's next time on World of Secrets. We contacted our Barsha police station requesting to see the case files for both Monica and Kayla. They did not reply. Then we invited the police to respond to allegations that Monica and Kayla's deaths had not been properly investigated. Again, they did not reply.

This has been episode 2 of 6 of Death in Dubai, season 9 of World of Secret. Thank you for listening. Please leave us a review. It really helps us to get the word out. World of Secrets, Death in Dubai, is produced by Ruth Evans, Li Chong, Bondo, and me, Renarko Selina. The sound design and mix is by Andy Fell. The editor is Rebecca Henshki. Voiceover by Savannah. It was a BBC Eye investigation produced in association with Thread Studios.