A 21-year-old woman and her three-month-old son have been sent to the Byculla women’s prison after she was allegedly caught pimping her minor sister-in-law into prostitution. The pimp’s husband and father-in-law have several crime cases registered against them and are presently externed from the city limits.
The police confirmed that the rescued girl, a 15-year-old, has been raped by some “customer”. Acting on a tip off, the Social Service (SS) branch of Mumbai police crime branch sent a decoy customer at the accused’s rented room in a building in Dharavi area of Central Mumbai on Thursday night around 10.30 pm.
The accused pimp gave away her sister-in-law to a decoy customer for Rs 30,000 for a few hours. The customer then alerted the SS Branch who swooped in and arrested the pimp. The rescued minor girl has four siblings, two sisters and two brothers including the accused woman’ husband. The accused holds a diploma in pharmacy. Her husband, who allegedly has three wives, has several cases of assault, theft, NDPS and burglaries registered against him. He had been ordered by the special executive magistrate to stay out of city limits. Also externed is the accused pimp’s father-in-law who too has several burglary cases registered against him.
The accused was in police custody for a day and was later sent to Byculla women’s prison by a sessions court. Police sub-inspector J.P. Hegadkar of Dharavi police, who is investigating the case, said that an FIR has been registered under sections 370 (1) (Exploitation of a trafficked person) of IPC, 4 (living on the earnings of prostitution) and other relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.
