Maharashtra: Sex racket busted in Virar spa, Thai woman arrested
Maharashtra police have arrested a Thai woman for allegedly running a sex racket in a spa in Virar of Palghar district. Two women, one from Thailand, were rescued and sent to a shelter home in Boisar. Cops sent a decoy to the spa based on a tip-off and trapped the 43-year-old accused. She was running the racket since a year, police said.
Extent of Maharashtra's sex trafficking ring increasing
Mumbai has emerged as a top sex trafficking destination. Earlier, it was only girls from poor Indian states and Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar who were being targeted, but now victims come from Philippines, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan too, Maharashtra Women's Commission chief Vijaya Rahatkar had said.
15% of Mumbai's brothels provide minors for pleasure: Report
A survey by IJM and Maharashtra Commission for the Protection of Child Rights found at least 15% of Mumbai's commercial sex establishments offered minors for pleasure. Grant Road has the maximum sex establishments (445) followed by Bhiwandi (389). Other hotspots include Andheri, Dombivali, Bhandup, Chembur, Ulhasnagar and Kamathipura. The most minors (18.7% of sex workers) are employed in Panvel, followed by Borivali (12.5%).
Maharashtra police up the fight against sex trafficking
To fight the crime, anti-trafficking units supervised by senior officers were being set up in all 36 districts, Maharashtra DGP Satish Mathur had said. They were also considering prosecuting traffickers under more stringent laws, including the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act. If links could be established between the procurer, seller, buyer and person/gang enjoying profits, trafficking could qualify as organized crime, Mathur added.
