NEW DELHI: A trial court has sentenced a woman, running a brothel in the capital, to 10 years rigorous imprisonment for forcing a minor girl into prostitution.
Additional
sessions judge Kaveri Baweja awarded the jail term to convict Haseena who has
been charged with inducing a girl into prostitution and detaining the victim
who was less than 17-years-old.
While
directing the closure of the brothel after eviction of the people residing
there, the court said, "The victim has been held to be a 'minor' under the
Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, and convict Haseena is found guilty of
the offenses punishable under sections 5(1)(d) [induces a person (minor) to carry
on prostitution] and 6 (detaining a person in the premises where prostitution
is carried on) of the Act."
While
imposing a fine of Rs 20,000 on the convict, the judge also recommended a
compensation be paid to the victim.
It also
observed that while those soliciting or seducing any person for the purpose of
prostitution are convicted under the Act, their "customers" are not
treated as accused under the statute. The order came in the complaint of the
victim, a native of Darjeeling in West Bengal, who was rescued from a brothel
on G B Road during a routine police raid.
The girl
in her complaint alleged that she was brought to Delhi in 2009 by co-accused
Rajni, who is currently absconding and has been declared a proclaimed offender,
on a promise of getting her a good job. After reaching Delhi, she was forced
into prostitution and was beaten up whenever she refused. The girl also alleged
that other girls and she were hidden during police raids.
During the
trial, Haseena claimed she had been falsely implicated and that the victim was
not a minor. Haseena also denied the allegation that the victim was being held
in the brothel against her wish. The court, however, convicted her by relying
on the testimonies of the victim, the police team which rescued the girl and
tests conducted during an investigation which showed that she was less than
17-years-old when she was brought here.
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