2 girls, twice forced into flesh trade, twice saved

Twice they met with fate worse than death, and both times they were rescued. Rashida and Sakina, both 18, were sold first time as minors to a brothel in Vashi by the former's father in 2006. They were rescued and sent to an observation home.

After they turned 18, they were released from the home, only to be pushed back into flesh trade. Again, they were saved. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), following its raid at a Vashi hotel on Tuesday night, arrested Mohammad Pervez Ansari, 45, along with seven others, including two women, for allegedly running a sex racket involving minors in the city and Navi Mumbai.

“Preliminary investigations have revealed that Ansari and three other arrested accused — Vitthal Patil, 29, Rajendra Saw, 26 and Najunda Gowda, 26 — worked as pimps,” said Rishi Raj Singh, joint director, CBI (western zone). By grilling the trio, the sleuths came to know about Jasbeer Kaur, 55, who had allegedly given her house to forcibly confine the girls. Pramod Saw, an accomplice, and Bibhash and Sampa Roy, a couple who had brought three girls from Kolkata to Mumbai last week, too were arrested. They were produced in court in Wednesday, and were remanded in police custody till June 5. However, the kingpin of the racket was at large.

The minors, said sources, were brought in either from Bangladesh or Assam and West Bengal. In Tuesday night's raid, a CBI team rescued 19 girls from Hotel Kuber in Vashi. Listening to their horrifying tales of sexual and physical abuse, the sleuths came to know about 13 other girls, who were forcibly confined in a house in Sindhi Colony, Chembur. The apartment was raided and the girls were rescued. All of them were sent to rehabilitation homes in Deonar and Chembur, said CBI officials. Cash worth Rs4.80lakh was recovered from the two spots raided.

Investigations revealed that the victims were lured to the city with the promise of tit-bit roles in Bollywood films or television serials. “But once they reached Mumbai, they were forced into flesh trade,” said Singh. The pimps allegedly would cough up Rs40,000 for every “virgin” girl and Rs10,000 for each of the minors. The rescued girls told CBI officials that they were be paid Rs500-1,000 per night.

“The girls were first taken to Hotel Kuber, where the customers chose them. After spending the night, they were returned to the pimps,” said Amitabh Thakur, superintendent of police, special crimes. “The girls were then locked up in safe houses which were constantly guarded.”