The Delhi High Court has issued directions asking the Centre to repatriate, and not deport, a Kenyan woman suspected of indulging in prostitution while she was in the city on a tourist visa.
The court, however, clarified that its order would not come in the way of any inquiry conducted in accordance with law.
Detained on December 7, 2016, the Kenyan woman moved the Delhi High Court asking that she be allowed to return to Kenya rather than being deported, which would have serious consequences for her.
Allegation of prostitution
“Perusal of the counter affidavit as well as the report shows that the investigation is still underway. However, the investigation, till date, has not conclusively established that the petitioner (Kenyan national) is indulging in undesirable activities and illegal/illicit acts, in violation of the visa rules,” the court noted.
“Since the intention of the respondents is that the petitioner should leave the country and the petitioner has expressed desire to leave the country on her own, it would be in the interest of justice that the respondents repatriate the petitioner instead of deporting the petitioner,” the court said.
It also directed that the woman would make her own arrangements to travel to her country.
The Kenyan woman had been issued a six months’ tourist visa on July 4, 2016, that was valid till January 1, 2017. One of the conditions of the visa was that she could not stay in India for more than 90 days at a stretch. She reached India on July 18, 2016, and later went to Nepal on October 15, 2016. She returned to India on October 17.
The Centre told the court that intelligence inputs and complaints had been received from the Kenyan Embassy about a house in south Delhi’s Chhatarpur being used to run a prostitution racket. It was said that a raid was conducted on the said premises on December 7, during which a Nigerian national was found living there without a valid visa. The petitioner, too, was in the house and was suspected to be indulging in prostitution.
