The Telangana police on Friday rescued 20 women and 10 minor girls – two of them forced into prostitution even as they were suffering from ailments – after busting a human trafficking racket at Ramayampet in Medak district. “So pathetic was the condition of the victims that two women were pregnant and three were diagnosed with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV),” said Sowmya Mishra, IGP of Crime Investigation Department. Addressing a press conference, she said two of the victims were mentally unstable, but were still forced into flesh trade.
The minor girls were procured from different parts of the State. One from Warangal was trapped by the traffickers who lured her with a job offer. There were about 35 traffickers (brothel operators), including 21 women. Each of them was making ₹2,000 to ₹3,000 a day from the flesh trade. While the victims were confined to small rooms and forced to spend time with customers despite falling sick sometimes, the traffickers were living a comfortable life.
Each minor girl was forced to entertain at least 10 customers a day. The accused were operating in nearly 30 small and big houses located at Sarojininagar at Japthi Shivnoor village in Medak district.
They had dogs, including Great Dane, at the brothels to reportedly resist raids by the law enforcing agencies. “One dog almost pounced on a member of our team when we went for the raid,” a senior CID officer said later.
Following a tip-off from a voluntary organisation called Justice and Care, CID officials raided the brothels. Thirty teams conducted the raids for nearly 48 hours by rescuing victims, recording statements of the accused, checking their hideouts and gathering evidences.
Along with 35 traffickers, two customers were also arrested. The rescued victims were shifted to Shelter Home.
