Mumbai: Three girls, including a minor, who were rescued from a prostitution racket in Vasai, underwent the age determination test on Monday. The girls, who are being rehabilitated in a government shelter, were rescued by the Anti-Human Trafficking unit of the Palghar and Manickpur police on May 27.
Three women held
The Vasai police, meanwhile, arrested three women for allegedly trafficking the girls. Following a tip-off, the police raided a flat in Vasai, where the women ran the prostitution racket. The police recovered ₹3,000 in cash from the flat. The minor girl is said to be around 16 years old, while the other two are likely to be aged between 17 and 24.
The age determination tests will continue for another day or two and the girls will be examined for physical and sexual injuries.
The arrested women have been charged under Section 370 (trafficking of persons) of the Indian Penal Code; and Section 3 (punishment for keeping a brothel or allowing premises to be used as a brothel), Section 4 (punishment for living on the earnings of prostitution), Section 5 (procuring, inducing or taking a [person] for the sake of prostitution) and Section 6 (detaining a [person] in premises where prostitution is carried on) of the the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956. The women have also been charged under Section 4 (punishment for penetrative sexual assault), Section 8 (punishment for sexual assault), and Section 17 (punishment for abetment) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. The women have been sent to police custody till May 31. The International Justice Mission (IJM), which works with victims of human trafficking, assisted the Vasai police in the operation. Since 2000, IJM Mumbai has helped rescue and rehabilitate about 590 girls and women forced into prostitution.
