NGO member held for running brothel in city

A 31-year-old woman, member of an NGO that works for the welfare of victims of human trafficking and flesh trade, has been found running a brothel at GB Road, Delhi's red light area. Karn Pratap Singh reports.

A 31-year-old woman, member of an NGO that works for the welfare of victims of human trafficking and flesh trade, has been found running a brothel at GB Road, Delhi's red light area.

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The crime branch of the Delhi police arrested the NGO member, Tusli, and one Sabita, the owner of a brothel, for allegedly pushing a minor girl and another woman into prostitution.

Tulsi's interrogation, the police said, revealed that she was associated with Savera Mahila Milan Sangathan, a registered NGO in outer Delhi's Sultanpuri, for the past two years. Anand Sharma, head of the NGO, told Hindustan Times that Tulsi worked for them.

The victims were rescued from brothel number 57 and 59 after the crime branch conducted a raid on March 5 on inputs from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

One of the victims, a 20-year-old woman from Darjeeling in West Bengal, was allegedly pushed into flesh trade by the arrested NGO member on the pretext of bringing her to the mainstream, police said.

She was sold to an unidentified man for Rs 3 lakh by her brother-in-law, who had brought her to Delhi on the pretext of sending her to Saudi Arabia for a job. The unidentified man sold her again at the brothel.

The other victim, a minor girl from West Bengal, told the child welfare committee (CWC) that she was sold for Rs 1.5 lakh by her friend who had promised to marry her after she met him at a railway station in West Bengal.

"She had fled from her home after her parents disapproved of her wish to marry her boyfriend. The man who met her at the railway station took her to his place on the pretext of marriage and raped her. He later brought her to Delhi and kept her at his friend's house where they together took turns to rape her. Finally, they handed her to a pimp at India Gate after receiving Rs 1.5 lakh," a senior officer said.

Ravindra Yadav, additional CP (crime), said Tulsi was arrested after she approached them to secure the custody of the two rescued victims. Tulsi provided their voter ID cards to claim that they were not minors. The scrutiny of the voter ID cards revealed that they were forged.