The police have uncovered a flesh trade operation purportedly managed by a 17-year-old girl at a hotel in Navi Mumbai. They successfully rescued four women who were allegedly coerced into prostitution, as reported by an official on Wednesday. Acting on a tip-off, the police's anti-human trafficking cell team raided the hotel located in Vashi area on Tuesday after sending a decoy customer there, the official from APMC police station said.
The accused girl, hailing from Malad in Mumbai, was alleged to have given a portion of the earnings from the prostitution activities to the victims, while retaining the remainder for herself, as stated in the FIR.
Following the hotel raid, the police successfully rescued four women, all approximately 20 years old, including one individual from Nepal and two from Bihar. These rescued women have been placed in a rehabilitation home for their well-being.
The police also seized a mobile phone, a watch and cash collectively worth Rs 84,030, besides bogus currency notes with a face value of more than Rs 1.5 lakh, the official said. A case has been registered against the accused under Indian Penal Code section 370 (buying or disposing of any person as slave) and provisions of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act-1956, the police added.