Police rescue 8 women, minor lured into prostitution from Mulund hotel

Mulund police rescued 9 women, including a 12-year-old girl forced into prostitution. Poonam Kedare arrested, charged under various acts

MUMBAI: The Mulund police on Thursday rescued nine women, including a 12-year-old girl who were allegedly forced into prostitution from a hotel near the Mulund check Naka and arrested Poonam Kedare, 34, said police sources.

The Mulund police on Thursday rescued nine women from a hotel. Representational Image (PHOTO FOR REPRESENTATION PURPOSE ONLY)

The police laid a trap to catch them in action after a message on WhatsApp was circulated stating if anyone required minor girls or women and provided a phone number. After this, the police sent a decoy customer who talked with Kedare on call and agreed to send a woman for ₹15,000.

Kedare also told them that that there is an option if the customer wants to choose the woman as per his choice and she would charge accordingly. They decided to meet in a restaurant near Check Naka on April 3. Kedare came with nine women including a 12-year-old girl. “When the decoy was paying her and once she accepted the cash we raided the hotel,” said police inspector Adinath Gavade of the Mulund police station.

The case was registered against Kedare as she took advantage of the financial condition of 9 women and lured them into prostitution for monetary benefit, added the official. She is booked under sections 366A, 370 A (1), 370(3), 370(5) Prevention of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls Act along with Sections 4, 5, 4, 16, 17, 18 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. She was produced in the court and remanded in the police custody till April 10.