Thane cops rescue six women from Bhiwandi brothel

Two of the six girls rescued from the brothel are from Karnatka, while the other four are from Nepal. Representation pic

Acting on a tip-off from the International Justice Mission (IJM), the Thane police's anti-human trafficking cell rescued six girls from a brothel in Bhiwandi in the wee hours of October 20. The police were not able to nab the brothel-keeper, who continues to be on the run, but they managed to apprehend one of her employees.

Two of the six girls are from Karnataka. One of them is a 17-year-old. She was brought to the city three years ago by her boyfriend, who then sold her to a brothel-keeper in Turbhe. According to sources from the team that conducted the raid, "The 17-year-old's plight was apparent as she immediately ran into the arms of the woman sub-inspector at the time of the rescue. She informed the police about how her boyfriend from Karnataka had handed her over to a brothel keeper in Turbhe."

Brutally abused
From Turbhe, the minor was moved to Pune, after which she returned to Mumbai and then went to the brothel in Bhiwandi. Another girl had arrived to Mumbai from Karnataka just four days ago.
A friend brought her to the brothel promising her a job. The remaining four had all been trafficked from Nepal. They told cops they were brought to the city from their poverty-stricken villages to look for work.

"According to the Karnataka girls, the accused brothel keeper would force them to attend to around 30 customers a day. If they refused, she would brutally abuse them," said a social worker present at the rescue. The minor would repeatedly ask customers to relieve her of her plight and feared the brothel keeper's wrath. The police ensured all six girls were transferred to a government shelter home for rehabilitation.

A complaint has been lodged at the Bhiwandi Town police station against the brothel-keeper and two accomplices, under sections 370 and 370A (2) of the Indian Penal Code, section 4 and 5 of the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act and sections 4, 8 and 17 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

Maharashtra a hotbed
Melissa Walavalkar, director of justice solutions, IJM Mumbai said, "We noticed an increase in the demand of young girls for commercial sexual exploitation in brothels and red-light areas in the festive season. Thus, we were glad to assist the police in rescuing not just one, but six victims from the brothel." She added, "There is a considerable amount of interstate and intrastate trafficking in India, with interstate trafficking accounting for 89 per cent of commercial sexual exploitation. As per IJM's findings, Maharashtra has become a hotbed for the supply and demand of minors, who are smuggled in mostly from Bangladesh and West Bengal."

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