Watch your space, celebs

After the police raided a spa in Versova earlier this month for fronting a flesh trade racket, this paper learnt that the premises actually belong to actor Priyanka Chopra. Chopra had apparently given out the property on rent. A front page report in this paper yesterday, exposed the fact that the property was being used to run a flesh trade racket.

The spa manager Dinesh Chandrakant, was arrested and three adult females were rescued, while the spa owner Manik Soni is absconding.

On November 7, the Versova Police received a tip-off that Charisma Spa and Beauty Centre in Vastu Precinct building in Shastri Nagar was covertly involved in flesh trade. Based on the tip, a decoy was sent to the premises to verify the information and post verification, a raid was conducted.

Chopra refused to comment on the issue. Celebrities need to be careful about who they lease out their property to. Even if they do not doubt the person's credibility initially, they have to check at least sporadically what is happening on their property. Is it being used for the intended purpose? If an agent has been the middleman, that too, is not an excuse for ignorance.

The property owner must try their best to be in the know about how the property is being used. One way to do this is to conduct regular, surprise checks. If the celebrity cannot go himself or herself then, a trusted person can be sent to do this.

Since Bollywood celebrities are travelling frequently and have tight schedules, they have to think beforehand whether they would have time to monitor their leased properties.

When an unfortunate incident occurs like this, it is the celebrity whose name is the boldest in the headlines. Then, it is specious to say one was unaware about what is going on or remain silent.

Ultimately, the owner is responsible for activities on the property he or she has leased out. Celebrities must realise that they too continue to be responsible for the space or assets they have leased out.