Outer Delhi: 14-yr-old among 5 rescued from prostitution racket

Our correspondentNew Delhi: Five women, including a 14-year-old girl, were rescued from a prostitution racket during a police raid in Outer North Delhi’s Swaroop Nagar, an official said on Thursday.

The operation was carried out following a tip-off from the Association for Voluntary Action (AVA), whose members had been posing as decoy customers for weeks to gather details, police said.

Three persons, including a middle-aged woman, were arrested for allegedly running the racket from a flat and a case has been registered under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act,

according to the officer.

During counselling, the minor told officials that she was lured into the trade by an acquaintance earlier this month. She had approached a woman seeking employment in a factory due to financial difficulties at home. The woman allegedly took her to another person who was running a similar racket.

“When I refused, they convinced me that there is a lot of money in it. I would attend one or two clients daily and get Rs 1,000,” she

told counsellors.

The girl said she was later shifted to Swaroop Nagar, where she was paid Rs 300 per day while the rest of the money was kept by others involved. She has been moved to a childcare home and will be produced before the Child Welfare Committee, the police said.

Another victim, who said she was 25 years old, appeared much younger to the rescue team, the official said. Since she did not provide any documents to establish her age, further medical examination will be conducted, he added.

Manish Sharma, Director of AVA, said his team exposed a racket in Swaroop Nagar where a pimp demanded Rs 10,000 for four minor girls. Police raided promptly. AVA, part of a child rights network, earlier helped rescue a

girl in Dwarka.