Woman acquitted of pushing girl into flesh trade

A woman owner of a Delhi-based placement agency, which provides domestic helps, was acquitted of charges of procuring and pushing a girl into flesh trade by a court here which termed her statements as "unreliable".
    
"In view of serious contradictions in the testimony of the prosecutrix and statement failing to inspire confidence, it is difficult to accept and believe it to base conviction of the accused," additional sessions judge JR Aryan said.
    
The court absolved Baby Singh alias Priya, a resident of Sangam Vihar here, of charges of under sections 366A (procuration of minor girl) and 372 (letting to hire a minor for prostitution) of the IPC.
    
The girl first said she was brought by the accused from her native place in West Bengal and was forced to have sex with 40 persons.
    
However, in her cross examination, she said a woman other than the accused brought her to Delhi and was forced to have sex with five persons, the court said, highlighting the flip-flops in her testimonies.
    
It also came down heavily on police for not collecting supporting evidence such as interrogating the persons, who allegedly had entered into sexual relations with her.
    
The girl, in her complaint in 2007, alleged that the accused had pushed her into flesh trade.
  
"No evidence has been collected and it was best known to the Investigating Officer (IO) as to why no supporting evidence was collected or why no proper facts were dig out from the prosecutrix," the court said.
    
Earlier, Arun Satija, advocate for the accused, said the testimonies of the girl were inconsistent and cannot be relied upon for convicting her client.
    
The IO could have traced the persons who were allowed by the accused to have sexual relations with the girl, the court said.
    
"No sanctity can be attached to the statement (given to the magistrate) of the girl because the tenor of the statement suggests as if accused Priya Singh is a male person," it said, adding that even the inconsistent statements of the girl were not supported by other evidence.