Complainant in Sask. human trafficking trial testifies to working ‘dusk to dawn’ without pay

WATCH: A defence lawyer says a woman at the centre of a human trafficking case was never employed at a restaurant while police say she was forced to work there.

The defence lawyer in a human trafficking trial says the complainant was never employed at one of the restaurants police say she was forced to work at.

In a makeshift courtroom at the Rosetown Elks Hall, the trial of Mohammad Masum and Sohel Haider continued Friday.

In 2023, RCMP charged the men with human trafficking, saying they forced a Bangladeshi woman to work at restaurants in Gull Lake, Elrose, and Tisdale.

Masum is also charged with three counts of sexual assault.

Earlier this week court heard the Bangladeshi woman, who can’t be named because of a publication ban, came to Saskatchewan for a job at Empire Diner in Gull Lake.

During cross-examination on Friday, Haider’s lawyer, Chris Gratton, said the woman was supposed to work as a cook, but after finding out she wasn’t qualified for the job, Haider said he didn’t need another server and said he had “no use for her.”

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Gratton said Haider was taking a trip to Bangladesh and told the woman she could stay in Gull Lake until he got back.

Gratton said she was not actually an employee and just chose to “hang out” at the restaurant.

The woman denied Gratton’s suggestions, saying she worked at the restaurant from “dusk till dawn.”

The court heard the woman never got paid, but did get room and board during her time in Gull Lake.

The woman was later transferred to Masum’s restaurant in Tisdale.

The defence played a video showing an altercation in the restaurant, with the woman grabbing her co-worker by the collar with one hand. The video showed Masum trying to intervene, but the woman switched hands and continued to hold her co-worker’s collar.

The woman testified she was wrongfully being accused of stealing, and she was being insulted at the time.

Judge Miguel Martinez adjourned the trial shortly after. It’s set to resume on June 2, as cross-examination continues.