E-Paper
Police seal Nagpur’s 200-year-old red light area
With the ban in place, the police can now jail a person found indulging in prostitution in the area.
Days after clamping section 144 of the CrPC in city’s Red-Light district in central Nagpur – Ganga Jamuna – following complaints of open solicitation by commercial sex workers, the Nagpur police Thursday banned prostitution in the area for two months. The flesh trade has been running at Ganga Jamuna for the last 20 years from the Bhonsale regime.
Issuing a notification under the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act (PITA), Nagpur commissioner of police Amitesh Kumar warned of legal action against those flouting the orders. With the ban in place, the police can now jail a person found indulging in prostitution in the area.
As per the notification issued under Section 7(1) (b) of PITA, the CP has power to notify public places within a distance of 200 meters of which prostitution cannot be carried by any person on any premises. The police have appealed to the citizens to send their objection by email to the commissioner’s office or submit a written complaint at CP Office, Nagpur.
“It was brought to my notice that several offences have been registered during the last five years under PITA for carrying out prostitution in or in the vicinity of Balaji Mandir, Chinteshwar Mandir, Baba Kamlishah Dargah, Durga Devi Mandir, Sharda Devi Mandir, Radha Swami Satsang, NMC’s Chinteshwar Hindi Primary School, Hindustan High School (all these places are situated in the vicinity of Ganga Jamuna),” stated the notification.
“The premises within a distance of 200 meters from the above referred public places shall not be used for the purpose of prostitution and hereby it is declared that the violation of notification will attract liability and prosecution of such violator, under Section 7 (1-A), Section 7 (2) (a), 2 (b) and 2 (c) of PITA and relevant Sections of law, depending upon the nature of violation.”
The statistics issued by Nagpur police prove that minors were forced into flesh trade in the Ganga Jamuna area. The police have rescued 109 minors from here in the last 10 years and as many as 1,137 accused persons were booked by the police during the period.
Senior Nationalist Congress Party leader Jwala Dhote, who is the daughter of once stormy petrol of Vidarbha, late Jambuwantrao Dhote, condemned the police action and launched an agitation along with sex workers. “Police cannot take such arbitrary action without providing the (CSWs) an alternative employment,” she insisted.
