Death in Dubai: #DubaiPortaPotty - BBC Africa Eye Documentary
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BBC News - Eye Investigations, Death in Dubai
A woman’s death from a high-rise in Dubai goes viral, but nothing is as it seems.
When the mysterious death of a 23-year-old Ugandan woman in Dubai goes viral, she becomes the face of the disturbing #DubaiPortaPotty.
With over 450 million views on TikTok, the hashtag contains parodies and speculative exposés of women suspected of being “Dubai porta potties” - the internet term for supposedly money-hungry influencers willingly getting defecated on to fund lavish lifestyles.
This BBC Eye investigation reveals that behind these disturbing online rumours lies an even darker reality.
Monic (pronounced Monica) Karungi, known online as Mona Kizz, is the woman who tragically fell to her death from a Dubai high-rise, in 2022. Within hours, her name was trending. A grainy video of a woman jumping from a building began circulating, with social media users claiming it was of Monic, and that she’d taken her life after a “porta potty” video of her was leaked. This video was also apparently in circulation.
A reverse image search revealed that the suicide clip wasn’t of Monic. It hadn’t even been filmed in Dubai, it was shot in Russia six months earlier. And the graphic “porta potty video”? That wasn’t of her either. But on the 1st of May 2022, Monic did fall to her death from a Dubai high rise, and she wasn’t the only one. In 2021, another young Ugandan woman, Kayla Birungi, also fell to her death in the same Dubai neighbourhood as Monic.
BBC Eye’s Runako Celina spent two years trying to find answers to why Monic and Kayla died, and if their deaths were connected.
Through undercover footage, women’s testimonies and OSINT journalism, BBC Eye exposes an illegal prostitution ring in Dubai, and hears from young Ugandan women who say they were lured to the Gulf, often under false promises of work, only to find themselves trapped in violent, coercive sex work, indebted to a man known in Dubai as “The Untouchable.”
Filmed in Uganda, the UAE and the UK, the documentary retraces Monic’s journey from Kampala to Dubai, where she found herself sharing a flat with 50 other women, who say they were told they owed debts of up to tens of thousands of pounds to this powerful man.
Women’s testimonies form the emotional core of the film. ‘Mia’ recalls her charismatic and kind-hearted friend Monic, how they felt trapped, and their fears of never paying off the debt. The women say the only way to pay it off was to see clients, who were often seeking to engage in extreme and racialised abuse. ‘Lexi’, who says she was trafficked by another network, describes being offered thousands to be urinated on, beaten, or to eat faeces. These clients were willing to pay extra for humiliating “fetish” acts, directly linking the disturbing online rumour to women like ‘Lexi’s’ brutal reality.
The investigation’s turning point comes when reporters finally locate “The Untouchable.” On hidden camera, posing as event organisers, they capture him describing his “25 girls,” his prices, and his willingness to provide “the craziest” for porta potty requests. Calm and confident, he insists, “It’s part of me.”
This man, who is running an illegal and exploitative prostitution ring in Dubai, also reveals that he was once an east London bus driver.
Set against a backdrop of mass labour migration, with tens of thousands of Ugandans officially sent to the Middle East each year, Death in Dubai: #Dubaiportapotty exposes an illegal prostitution ring in Dubai, systematically exploiting young Ugandan women. And asks, if nothing changes, how many more will meet the same fate as Monic and Kayla?
Details of organisations offering information and support with sexual abuse or feelings of despair are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.
BBC Audio | World of Secrets | Death in Dubai | Death in Dubai: 1. The real Mona Kizz
Monic lands her dream job in Dubai. But is life there going to be as glamorous it seems?
www.bbc.com
Monic dreams of leaving her home in rural Uganda for a different life. So when a “friend” promises her a job in Dubai, it feels like the chance she’s been waiting for. Monic is elated, she is the first of her 11 siblings to travel abroad. But just a few months later she is dead. Her family is left searching for answers. What happened in Dubai?
A warning that this podcast includes disturbing scenes, including discussion of sexual abuse and suicide. Some episodes also contain 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
Boss of degrading sex-trade ring in Dubai's glamour districts unmasked by BBC
Young Ugandan women tell BBC they are being lured to Dubai to take part in extreme sex acts.
www.bbc.com
A man running a sex ring operating out of Dubai's most glamorous neighbourhoods, and exploiting vulnerable women, has been identified by a BBC investigation.
Charles Mwesigwa, who says he is a former London bus driver, told our undercover reporter he could provide women for a sex party at a starting price of $1,000 (£740), adding that many can do "pretty much everything" clients want them to.
Rumours of wild sex parties in the UAE emirate have circulated for years. The hashtag #Dubaiportapotty, which has been viewed more than 450 million times on TikTok, links to parodies and speculative exposés of women accused of being money-hungry influencers secretly funding their lifestyles by fulfilling the most excessive of sexual requests.
Our BBC World Service investigation was told the reality is even darker.
Young Ugandan women told us they had not expected to have to undertake sex work for Mr Mwesigwa. In some cases, they believed they were travelling to the UAE to work in places like supermarkets or hotels.
At least one of Mr Mwesigwa's clients regularly asks to defecate on the women, according to "Mia", whose name we have changed to protect her identity, and who says she was trapped by Mr Mwesigwa's network.
Mr Mwesigwa denies the allegations. He says he helps women find accommodation through landlords, and that women follow him to parties because of his wealthy Dubai contacts.
We have also discovered that two women linked to Mr Mwesigwa have died, having fallen from high-rise apartments. Although their deaths were ruled as suicides, their friends and family feel the police should have investigated further.
Mr Mwesigwa said the incidents were investigated by the Dubai police and asked us to contact them for information. They did not reply to our request.
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