Category Archives: Prostitution

Aug17

ONE GIRL FROM WEST BENGAL RESCUED FROM G.B. ROAD : BROUGHT TO DELHI BY LURING HER OF MARRIAGE

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PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

New Delhi, Aug 17 (PTI) A 19-year-old girl from West Bengal, who was lured to the capital by a youth on pretext of marriage but was sold to a prostitution ring, was rescued from the redlight area in central Delhi, police said today. The girl from South-24 Paragana was rescued from G B Road yesterday on a tip off provided by an NGO ‘Shakti Vahini’ after the victim’s father approached them, Devesh Srivastava, Additional Commissioner of Police (Central), said.

DELHI POLICE PRESS RELEASE DATED 17.08.2012
PRESS RELEASE                                               CENTRAL DISTRICT
ONE GIRL FROM WEST BENGAL RESCUED FROM G.B. ROAD : BROUGHT TO DELHI BY LURING HER OF MARRIAGE

On 16-08-2012, one girl aged about19 years was rescued from GB Road by the police staff of P.S. Kamla Market, Central District, Delhi with the help of ‘Shakti Vahini’, an NGO.

INCIDENT AND TEAM

On 16-08-2012, one person in distress belonging to District Sarisapara, District South 24 Pargana, West Bengal along with a representative of Shakti Vahini, NGO approached SHO/ Kamla Market and stated that his daughter namely Sangeeta (name changed), aged about 19 years was missing from District South 24 Pargana, West Bengal. A case vide u/s 363/366A/373 IPC was registered at P.S. Usthi 24 Pargana West Bengal in this regard. He further stated that she is confined at Kotha No- 59, IInd Floor, G.B. Road, Delhi against her wishes and desires to be freed from there.  This information was further developed. After developing the intelligence, a team comprising of Inspr. Parmod Joshi, SHO/Kamla Market, Inpsr. Binod Kumar, ATO/Kamla Market, SI Ajay Singh, H.C. Baljeet and W/Ct. Sarita was constituted under the close supervision of  Sh. Ram Kumar, ACP/Kamla Market. The representative of NGO ‘Shakti Vahini’ was also associated with the team.Thereafter, in late evening of 16.08.2012, a raid was conducted at Kotha No. 59, IInd Floor, GB Road, Delhi and the missing girl Sangeeta (name changed) aged about 19 years was rescued by the police team of PS Kamla Market, Central District, Delhi.   An intimation has been given to P.S. Usthi 24 Pargana West Bengal in this regard. Further investigation/interrogation is in progress.

 INVESTIGATION

During investigation, the rescued girl stated that she belonged to a poor family. She is illiterate. She was lured by one boy on the pretext of marrying her and brought to Delhi.  But instead of marrying her, the boy sold the girl at Kotha No. 59, IInd Floor, G.B. Road, Delhi.  The girl is being produced before CWC, Delhi for taking further course of legal action.

(DEVESH CHANDRA SRIVASTVA), IPS
ADDL. COMMISSIONER OF POLICE,
CENTRAL DISTRICT, DELHI

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Aug16

Bengali-speaking girls being trafficked to Kutch district of Gujarat

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Map of Gujarat showing the Greater Rann of Kut...

Map of Gujarat showing the Greater Rann of Kutch and Little Rann of Kutch (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

INDIA TODAY

Hundreds of Bengali-speaking Muslim women are being trafficked from Bengal and Bangladesh to Kutch, where they are sold off as brides helped by the district ’s skewed sex ratio and unmarried men’s desperate hunt for wives. A large number of these women are even pushed into flesh trade. Across villages inside huts of local fishermen, one comes across Bengali Muslim girls who have been married into Kutch families.

At Baroi village, we meet a heavily pregnant Asma, who appears to be in her late teens. The mother of two says she is from Dubra in Purulia district, West Bengal. Asma, who speaks a Bengali dialect popular in Bangladesh, is married to Abdul, who insists her age is 24. “I brought her from Kolkata 11 years ago,” he claims, as he abuses Asma for daring to agree with this reporter on her age being around 19 years. It emerges Asma is not the only girl Abdul has brought to Kutch from Bengal. Villagers say Abdul has spent a good time behind bars for trafficking.

“He brings women from Kolkata and marries them off here, charging between Rs. 40,000 and Rs. 50,000,” says Meghiben, a community worker. Two more women Mail Today comes across also claim, in Bangladeshi dialect, to be from Dubra village. In nearby Shekhadia village, we run into Pyarun Khatun, who admits to being from Bangladesh. After eight years in Kutch where she rarely gets a chance to speak in her mother tongue, she admits to having difficulty in speaking Bangla. Sitting near Pyarun, Ranobai Gadvi, another community worker, says that the change in the demographic profile has started impacting the otherwise liberal Kutchi fishing community.

“Two things have changed,” she says. “Women never used to wear burqa earlier but now that is being introduced. The attitude towards women is also changing,” she adds.

In Bhadreshwar village, we meet fisherman Osman Abdulla. When he is not catching fish in the high seas, he travels to Bihar scouting for potential brides for men back home. “I have been bringing girls from Jamui district in Bihar for some time,” he says. “But I insist on valid papers establishing the age of the girl and her nationality, which help us later to get her election identity cards,” Abdulla adds.

Abdul, Asma’s husband, has spent time behind bars for trafficking girls.

Reena Rabari of Ujas Mahila Sangathan says the number of Bengali-speaking Muslim women being trafficked into coastal areas of Kutch was quite significant. “A number of these girls are Bangladeshi and we had some cases where these girls came to us seeking help and even admitted they were from the other side of the border,” she says. Meena Rajgore of Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan Bhuj agrees.

“You can come across such girls in Anjar, Gandhidham, Bhachau, Mundra and Bhuj. A rough estimate would put the number of these Bangladeshi girls in Kutch close to 2,000,” she adds. Further, she points out that it is not just the fishing community but even other communities, including the Patels among the Hindus in Kutch, are now increasingly buying brides from trafficking agents. For the authorities, the biggest challenge is in detecting the alleged Bangladeshi women as their nationality is shown as ‘Indian’ on government papers.

“Even if we suspect them to be Bangladeshis, we can do nothing as they hold valid Indian papers,” a senior police officer said. Superintendent of Police(Kutch) B. S. Ahire, however, admits to the presence of Bangladeshi women in the border district. “We are aware of the problem,” he says.

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Aug12

Minor help rescued from Gurgaon

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MINOR HELP RESCUED FROM GURGAON

 

MINOR HELP RESCUED FROM GURGAON

HINDUSTAN TIMES

A 10-year-old domestic help, from Moradabad in UP, was rescued from a house in Belvedere Park building in DLF Phase 2 on Saturday evening. Acting on a tip-off, a team comprising officials of the district child protection department, police and NGO Shakti Vahini raided the house.and rescued the girl.“We have conducted the girl’s medical examination and are awaiting the report. She has been sent to a shelter home. We are investigating the matter and will file an FIR against the accused,” said a police official.

Aug12

Girls being trafficked from Delhi to Meerut

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Girls being trafficked from Delhi to Meerut

Girls being trafficked from Delhi to Meerut

DEVESH K PANDEY IN THE HINDU

In order to avoid detection in the Capital

A large number of minor girls and young women trafficked from different parts of the country to Delhi are being re-trafficked to brothels in Meerut in Uttar Pradesh to evade detection. The emerging new trend was noticed during recent rescue operations carried out by the local Anti-Human Trafficking Unit in coordination with a team constituted under the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights.

During the raids that were carried out in the Kawari Bazaar area of Meerut on July 27, and earlier on May 22, the team rescued over 60 victims of human trafficking who were brought from different places in West Bengal, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and even Nepal. Almost half of them were minors.

Having undergone mental and physical torture at the hands of their managers, many victims were initially reluctant to share their woes with the counsellors. However, most girls revealed that they were first brought to Delhi on various pretexts and then sold off at brothels on G.B. Road in Central Delhi.

“As the police mounted pressure in Delhi, many girls who were pushed into prostitution in the G.B. Road brothels were transported to Meerut. One of the victims disclosed that it also happened because some of these brothels had been served closure notices by the administration,” said Rishi Kant of non-government organization Shakti Vahini that was part of the rescue team. Some of the girls were even sent to Mumbai before being taken to Meerut.

Stating that Meerut was fast emerging as a major trafficking hub, where girls were now being sent through Delhi, Mr. Kant cited a case in which a girl belonging to a poor family from West Bengal was first sold in a red-light area of Kolkata and then to a brothel on G.B. Road, from where she was later transferred to Meerut.

“She has four sisters. Her father passed away in her childhood and her mother was unable to make two ends meet. Taking advantage of her poor economic condition, traffickers laid a trap and sold her off,” he said.

The same fate awaited another girl from South 24 Parganas in West Bengal, whose family members got a complaint lodged with the local police after she went missing. “While several victims were offered good jobs, some were brought to Delhi on the pretext of marriage. Some were even drugged and physically tortured. Now that they have been rescued, most of them have expressed their desire to be reunited with their families back home.”

  • The emerging trend was noticed during recent rescue operations carried out in Meerut
  • Most rescued girls were brought to Delhi, sold off at brothels on G.B. Road, then sent to Meerut
Jul26

We are not encouraging sex workers, Supreme Court clarifies

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NATIONAL LEGAL RESEARCH DESK

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today modified one of its order on welfare and rehabilitation of sex workers on the Centre’s submissions that the last year’s order gave an impression that it seeks to legalize prostitution. Allaying the Centre’s fears that it was giving its seal of approval to prostitution, a special bench of justices Altamas Kabir and Gyan Sudha Misra modified its earlier order, saying “the modification shall not be construed that by this order any encouragement is being given to prostitution.”

Modifying its earlier order, the bench clarified that it would only examine the “conditions conducive for sex workers to work with dignity in accordance with provisions of Article 21 of the Constitution.” It added it was keen that sex workers should be given opportunity to avail rehabilitation measures of the government and other agencies for them.While adjudicating a petition for rehabilitation of former sex workers, the apex court had on July 19, 2011 framed three terms of reference.

Appointing a broad-based panel to look into the matter, the apex court by its July 2011 order had formulated three questions related to prevention of trafficking, rehabilitation of sex workers who wish to leave the sex work and “conditions conducive for sex workers who wish to continue working as sex workers with dignity.”On the Centre’s submission that the third term gave an impression that prostitution has been sought to be legalised, the apex court modified it to read as “conducive for sex workers to live with dignity in accordance with the provisions of Article 21 of the Constitution”.

“The above modification shall not be construed that by this order any encouragement is being given to prostitution,” the bench added. Justice Sudha also observed, “While we do not wish to encourage sex trade we would emphasise rehabilitation of sex workers for which we had taken the issue. “We wish to add although the sex workers have right to live with dignity. There has to be collective endeavours by courts and sex workers to give up flesh trade in case they are given alternative platform on employment.”

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Jul25

Concern over health of human trafficking victims

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Concern over health of human trafficking victims

Concern over health of human trafficking victims

DEVESH PANDEY IN THE HINDU

Alarming trend of some mysterious drug being administered to minor girls trafficked into the Capital

An alarming trend of some mysterious drug being administered to minor girls trafficked into the Capital from West Bengal, primarily to be forced into prostitution, has raised serious concerns over the mental and physical health of the victims of human trafficking.

The latest case is that of 17-year-old Wahida (name changed) from South 24 Parganas, who was smuggled into the city by an acquaintance of her lover’s brother and sold to a brothel on G.B. Road in Central Delhi about a week ago. “Having completed my Class X, I had gone to get myself enrolled with a nurse training school where Siraj, an acquaintance of my lover Nasir’s brother, met me. He took me to an eating joint where we had some food, after which I lost my senses. My body was functioning properly, but I could not utter a single word. What happened thereafter I cannot recall. It seems he made me consume food laced with some drugs,” said Wahida, daughter of a rickshaw puller.

Jitendra Nagpal, Head of the Department of the Institute of Mental Health and Lifeskills at Moolchand Hospital, said: “It could be some psychotropic that alters the functioning of the mind, declines overall function and impacts short-term memory altering the perception and emotion. These could also be illegally procured mind modifying agents like opioids or cannabinoids, making the person unable to control his/her behaviour. It at times makes the person vulnerable to suggestions by the perpetrator of the crime.” Dr. Nagpal said those under the influence of such a drug may lose their senses and are unable to later recall what exactly transpired with them.The next thing Wahida remembers is that she was at the New Delhi railway station. “When I confronted Siraj asking why he brought me to Delhi, he initially claimed that he wanted to marry me. I objected and urged him to take me back home, but he forcibly took me to a house where he beat me when I offered resistance. He then sold me off to a brothel where I was raped and mentally tortured,” she said.

Soon after the victim was brought to the brothel, non-government organisation Shakti Vahini got a tip-off that a minor girl had been forced into prostitution. “We immediately contacted the Kamla Market police, which raided the brothel and rescued the victim. Subsequently we alerted the West Bengal Police, which had received a complaint from the girl’s father a day ago. The girl was produced before a Child Welfare Committee. A case has now been registered and a police team headed by Sub-Inspector Bishwadev Roy, comprising two women police constables, is here along with the girl’s father to take her back to her native place,” said Rishi Kant of Shakti Vahini.

Mr. Kant said a similar modus operandi was employed by human traffickers in a recent case wherein a 16-year-old girl was brought to the Capital from Sonarpur in South 24 Parganas and pushed into the flesh trade. The girl, who was rescued later and is presently here for cross-examination before a city court, said she was also drugged before being trafficked.

Expressing shock, Sanjay Gupta of NGO Chetna said: “We have come across a large number of cases were children are trafficked into the Capital from States like Bihar and forced to become drug addicts. Under the influence of drugs, they commit crime and are also made to beg on streets. They are usually administered white/correction fluid and once they get addicted to it, they obey their handlers for their daily dose.”

Stating that presently there was lack of data on the subject of substance abuse among children and its repercussions, Mr. Gupta said a nationwide study was being undertaken by a committee in 142 districts across 27 States in coordination with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences under the supervision of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights.

Jul24

Six minors among 14 rescued from brothels

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PUNE: The Pune crime branch has rescued 14 women including six minors from two brothels in Budhwar Peth area. The police have arrested five brothel owners under prevention of immoral trafficking act (PITA). The social security cell of the crime branch led by senior police inspector Bhanupratap Barge made the arrests.

Barge told the TOI that he received a tip-off the minor girls were forced into prostitution in some brothels in the Budhwar Peth area. “We raided a brothel in a new building in Budhwar Peth and rescued four women including two minors,” Barge said.

He said that one of the minors was from Bangladesh. The police arrested two women for allegedly running brothel. “They have been identified as Puja Tamang and Maili Tamang,” Barge said. Barge said that the police also raided another brothel in the Sapna building in Budhwar Peth and rescued 10 women including four minors. “We have arrested three suspects in this regard. They have been identified as Shankara Nayak, Kajal Sardar and Bilkis Shaikh all from Sapna building,” Barge said.

Separate cases have been registered against the suspects with the Faraskhana police station. The investigating team comprised police sub-inspector Ashwini Jagtap, police constables Dattatreya Nikam, Kernath Kamble, Shashikant Shinde, Ajit Dhumal, Sandip Holkar and Sohanlal Chutele.

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Jul19

Victim- Witness Protection Systems – ANTI TRAFFICKING

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NATIONAL LEGAL RESEARCH DESK

Broad Overview of the Victim/ witness protection systems

There are several constitutional, legal and administrative provisions in India for ensuring the rights and protection of witness/victim. Some of these are listed below which can be of ready reference to the law enforcement agencies:

  1. Right to anonymity is a legal right (S.C in Smt Sudesh Jakhu vs Narender Verma 2004).
  2. In camera trial, u/s 327 CrPC is essential in rape crimes. The provisions of in camera trial have been extended to all crimes of sexual assault against children (refer Sakshi judgement) Therefore in camera trial should be invoked in all crimes of trafficking of children for CSE.
  3. Video Conference is allowed in the trial of crimes (refer Praful Desai judgt). This ensures not only anonymity but also protection to thevictims and witnesses.
  4. Provision of free atmosphere: In Sakshi vs UOI, it was held that “the whole inquiry before a court is to elicit the truth. It is absolutely necessary that the victim or the witnesses are able to depose about the entire incident in a free atmosphere without any embarrassment. ….A screen or some such arrangements be made where the victim or witnesses do not have to undergo the trauma of seeing the body or the face of the accused”.
  5. Recess during court proceedings: In Sakshi vs UOI the Supreme Court directed that whenever a child or a victim of rape is required to give testimony, sufficient brakes should be given as and when required.
  6.  Legal representation is a legal right. In Delhi Domestic Working Women’s Forum vs UOI, 1995 (1) SCC 14.) The requirement of legalrepresentation and counseling has been extended to the victim rightfrom the Police Station itself.
  7. Victim can have Private Lawyers who can assist the Public Prosecutor and even submit written arguments, nevertheless functioning under the public prosecutor, vide Section 301(2) CrPC.
  8. Victim is never an accomplice (Gurcharan Singh vs Haryana, AIR 1972 SC 2661).
  9. Right of accused to cross examine the victim/witness, though a legal right, is restricted by Sakshi judgt, in such a way that in a case of sexual assault of children, the defence cannot question the victim directly, but has to furnish the questions to the court and the court will, in turn, communicate it to the victim.
  10.  Compensation is an entitlement of the victim for injury/loss, u/s 357 CrPC.
  11. Compensation can be awarded to the victim from the convicted person even if there was no fine as part of the sentence (Boddhi Sattwa Gautam vs SubraChakroborty, 1996 1 SCC 490).
  12. Compensation can be awarded to the victim even without conviction and even during pendency of trial (Delhi Domestic Working Women’sForum vs UOI).
  13. Age assessment of the victim should be done, when in doubt, in favour of the victim. In State of Karnataka vs Majamma, it was held that even if the prosecution has not proved that the girl was less than 16 years, her own statement should be trusted and accepted.
  14. Delay in reporting of the case will not affect the case if reasonable explanation is given/brought out during investigation (Harpal Singh vs HP, 1981(1) SCC 560).
  15. Defective Investigation: Flawed investigation is no ground to deny justice to the victim. “It would not be right to acquit an accused person solely on account of defect; to do so would tantamount to playing into the hands of the investigating officer if the investigation is designedly defective” (Karnal Singh vs MP, 1995 5 SCC 518 and Zahira Habibullah vs Gujarat, 2004 (4) SCC 158.
  16. Prosecutrix need not be examined: in State of Himachal Pradesh vs Mohan Misra, 1995 CrLJ 3845, the Supreme Court held that “merelybecause the victim girl is not examined, this can never be a ground toacquit an accused if there is evidence otherwise available proving thecriminal act of the accused.
  17. Character and antecedents of the victim has no bearing or relevance…and can never serve either as mitigating or extenuating circumstance. No stigma should be implied against the victim/witness. ‘After all it is the accused and not the victim of sex crime who is on trial in the court’. (Haryana vs Prem Chand and others, 1990 (1) SCC 249, Maharashtra vs Madhukar Narayen Marvikar, AIR 1991 SC 207, State of Punjab vs Gurmit Singh, AIR 1996 SC 1393).
  18. On reliability: The evidence of a victim of sexual offence is entitled to a great weight, absence of corroboration notwithstanding (Punjab vs Gurmeet Singh) The rule of prudence that the evidence of a victim of sexual assault must be corroborated in material particulars has no application (Maharashtra vs CPK Jain, AIR 1990 SC 658).
  19. On corroboration: In Punjab vs Gurmeet Singh it was held that the statement of the rape victim who was between 15-17 years, inspired confidence for acceptance and, therefore corroboration of evidence was not needed. Held that there is no legal compulsion to look for corroboration of the evidence of the prosecutrix before recording an order of conviction. Evidence has to be weighed and not counted (Himachal Pradesh vs Raghubir Singh) There is no rule of practice that there must in every case be corroboration before a conviction can be allowed to take place (Rameshwar vs Rajasthan, AIR 1952 SC 54).
  20. On discrepancy in the statement of victim/witness: In cases involving sexual assault minor contradictions or insignificant discrepancies in the statement of the witnesses should not affect the case (Punjab vs Gurmeet Singh, AIR 1996 SC 1393 and Andhra Pradesh vs Gangula Satyamurthy, JT 1996 (10) SC 550). It was held that the court must appreciate the evidence in totality of the background of the entire case and not in isolation.
  21. On medical report: In Rampal vs State of Haryana, 1994 Supp(3) SCC 656, conviction was based on the sole testimony of theprosecutrix. Though the doctor did not find any visible injuries, thecourt held that, there was no reason to suspect the testimony of the victim and upheld the conviction of the accused.
  22. Expeditious trial is an essential ingredient of reasonable, fair and just procedure guaranteed by Article 21 (Menaka Gandhi vs State, 1978 (1) SCC 248). It is the constitutional obligation of the state to devise such a procedure as would ensure speedy trial (Sheela Barse vs UOI, 1986 (3) SCC 632).
  23. Courts need to take participative role to deliver justice to victim. “The Courts have to take a participative role in a trial. They are not expected to be tape recorders to record whatever is being stated by the witnesses. S.311 of CrPC and S.165 of Ev. Act confer wide and vast powers on presiding officers of Court to elicit all necessary materials by playing an active role in the evidence collecting process” (Zahira Habibullah vs Gujarat, 2004 (4) SCC 158).
  24. Witnesses to turn up in trial: In order to ensure fair trial, a duty has been cast on the prosecution to produce witnesses on time. “The presence of the Investigating Officer at the time of the trial is must. It is his duty to keep the witness present. If there is a failure on the part of the witness to remain present, it is the duty of the court to take appropriate action” (Shailendra Kumar vs Bihar, 2002 (8) SC 13).
  25. Right to be rescued: Section 16 ITPA provides powers to Executive Magistrates and Judicial Magistrates for directing any police officer of the rank of SI and above to rescue a person based on information received from any source. This accrues a right to the victim to notify the Magistrate, by whichever means possible, and a duty is cast on the Magistrate to ensure steps for rescue.
  26. Right to restoration to a safe place after rescue: Section 17 ITPA provides that a rescued person shall not be restored to or placed in the custody of a person who may exercise a harmful influence over the person. This section of law calls for Home verification to verify whether the original home of the rescued person is safe enough for her return.
Jul16

Sex racket busted, 11 nabbed, Ahmedabad

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TV 9 NEWS

A sex racket was busted yet again in Ahmedabad. Khokhra police raided Ambuja Co-operative Society where the sex racket was running. 4 females and 7 males were nabbed int this raid. The main accused Parul Shah was running this racket by calling the women from Bengal and Mumbai through pimps. When interrogated the Parul said that the entire racket was running out of helplessness. Many objectionable things were also found from the apartment during the raid.

Jul12

Sex workers can’t operate in any manner, Centre tells SC

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SEX WORKERS MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO OPERATE

SEX WORKERS MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO OPERATE

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to examine Centre’s plea that sex workers should not be allowed to operate in the country under the cloak of working “with dignity” as suggested by a panel, since it would be contrary to the statute prohibiting the world’s oldest trade. Appearing for the Centre, Additional Solicitor General PP Malhotra told a special bench of justices Altamas Kabir and Gyan Sudha Misra that any such endorsement by the apex court would go contrary to the vires of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act which bans prostitution in toto. Malhotra urged the apex court to delete the reference made by the apex court in its order of July 19, last year on the issue relating to “creating conditions conducive for sex workers to work with dignity.”

He also wanted the bench to remove the West Bengal-based NGO Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee from the panel constituted by the apex court as the organisation was championing the cause of sex workers and had also filed a writ petition before the Calcutta High Court in support of prostitution. On July 3, the apex court while appointing a broad based committee had formulated three questions for reference: Prevention of trafficking, rehabilitation of sex workers who wish to leave the sex work; and conditions conducive for sex workers who wish to continue working as sex workers with dignity.

The Centre’s move was however, opposed by senior counsel Jayant Bhushan, acting as an amicus curiae and Anand Grover who submitted that the Act only prohibited brothel activities and punitive action against pimps. In other words the counsel contended that if a sex worker carries out the activities on her own volition, then it was not an illegal Act.