Proper Implementation of Women's Law sought

‘पुनर्वसन झाल्यास देहव्यापारातील महिलांचे भविष्य सुरक्षित बनेल’

नगर, २९ सप्टेंबर/प्रतिनिधीपुनर्वसन झाल्यास देहव्यापारातील शोषित महिलांचे भविष्य सुरक्षित बनू शके ल, असे मत जिल्हा पोलीस अधीक्षक कृष्णप्रकाश यांनी व्यक्त केले. स्नेहालयने आयोजित केलेल्या जिल्ह्य़ातील शरीरविक्रय करणाऱ्या महिलांच्या मेळाव्यात ते बोलत होते.
गेल्या काही महिन्यांत जिल्ह्य़ातील अनेक कुंटणखान्यांवर पोलिसांनी घातलेल्या छाप्यांमुळे अनैतिक मानवी व्यापाराला मोठा आळा बसला आहे. मात्र, त्यामुळे देहव्यापारातील महिलांच्या चरितार्थाचा मोठा प्रश्न उभा राहिला आहे. या संदर्भात हा मेळावा घेण्यात आला. त्याचा समारोप कृष्णप्रकाश यांच्या उपस्थितीत झाला. स्नेहालयचे विश्वस्त श्याम असावा, मिलिंद कुलकर्णी, मीनाताई िशदे या वेळी व्यासपीठावर उपस्थित होते.  महिलांनी आपल्या समस्या मांडल्या. पुनर्वसनासाठी आंध्रप्रदेशात हक्काची जागा आणि रोजगार प्रशासनाकडून दिला जातो. महाराष्ट्रात मात्र सरकारने एक चौरस फूट जागा किंवा एक रुपयाचे अनुदानही दिलेले नाही, असे शेवगावच्या स्नेहज्योत प्रकल्पाच्या संघटक जया जोगदंड म्हणाल्या. श्रीरामपूर येथील सुनीता उनवणे म्हणाल्या, पुनर्वसनाचा कोणताही पर्याय समोर नसल्याने पोलीस कारवाई होताच महिलांना घरे-दारे सोडून परजिल्ह्य़ात पळून जावे लागते. आम्ही गाव सोडावे की धंदा, हे पोलीस अधीक्षकांनी सांगावे. बहुतांशी महिला कर्जबाजारी झाल्या असून अनेकजणींना उपचार अर्धवट सोडावे लागले आहेत, असे नगरच्या सुमन त्रिभुवन यांनी सांगितले.
कृष्णप्रकाश म्हणाले, उपजिविकेसाठी स्वत:चे शरीर विकणे हा गुन्हा नसला, तरी कुंटणखाने चालवणे, तसेच दुसऱ्या महिलांची कमाई खाणे हे अनैतिक मानवी वाहतूक कायद्यानुसार गंभीर गुन्हे आहेत. विविध ‘अर्थ’पूर्ण कारणांमुळे आजवर या धंद्यातील खऱ्या गुन्हेगारांवर कारवाई होत नव्हती. ही कारवाई सुरूच राहिल. त्यामुळे या धंद्यातील महिलांनी धाडस करून पुनर्वसनाचा पर्याय स्वीकारावा. या संदर्भात स्नेहालयचा पुढाकार ऐतिहासिक महत्त्वाचा आहे.  पुनर्वसनासाठी शेती, दुग्ध व्यवसाय, हस्तकला या रोजगारक्षम उद्योगांसाठी सरकारने किमान ६७ हेक्टर पडीक जमीन संस्थेला द्यावी, असा ठराव महिलांनी केला. जागा मिळाल्यास पुनर्वसनाचा पथदर्शी प्रकल्प स्नेहालय उभारेल, असे स्नेहज्योतचे समन्वयक प्रवीण मुत्याल यांनी सांगितले.      

स्नेहालय पुनर्वसन प्रकल्पात मोफत जागा
पुनर्वसनासाठी स्नेहालयने ठोस पुढाकार घेतला आहे. ज्या महिला लालबत्ती भागातून स्नेहालय प्रकल्पात राहण्यासाठी येतील, त्यांना प्रत्येकी १ हजार चौरस फूट जागा संस्था पुनर्वसन संकुलात देईल. वीज, पाणी व रोजगाराचे साधन संस्था पुरवेल. भोजन, औषधोपचाराचा खर्चही केला जाईल. सलग ३ महिने राहणाऱ्या महिलांना ही जागा करार करून मोफत दिली जाईल, असे मिलिंद कुलकर्णी यांनी जाहीर केले. पहिल्या टप्प्यात ४० महिलांना त्यांच्या मुलाबाळांसह पुनर्वसित करण्याचा मानस आहे, असे संस्थेचे उपसंचालक अंबादास चव्हाण यांनी सांगितले. कृष्णप्रकाश यांच्या हस्ते मालन गोरे व मीना पाठक यांना २ भूखंड प्रदान करून प्रकल्पाला सुरुवातही करण्यात आली.

Woman from Nuzvid rescued in New Delhi Brothel on GB Road

Child trafficking still continues

THE HINDU
Date:25/09/2010

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Child trafficking still continues

Staff Reporter
BERHAMPUR: Trafficking of children, including girls, to the states outside Orissa from its Kandhamal district is continuing.
Timely intervention of police and social activists could save 41 of them from getting transported to states like Tamil Nadu and Kerala. On Monday night 13 minor girls, 14 boys and two girls were rescued by a police patrol team in Gajalbadi area of Sorada block in Ganajm district. An agent was taking them to Berhampur railway station so that they could be transported to Tamil Nadu. All of them were from remote villages in Tumudibadh and Kotgarh areas of Kandhmal district.
The Childline in Berhampur received the information from sources that these children were to be transported via Berhampur railway station. So, with help of police plans were made to trace the children on their way to Berhampur.
According to project director of ‘Childline' in Berhampur, Sudhir Sabat, on Wednesday the police in Baliguda in Kandhamal district on a tip off prevented 12 girls from getting transported to Kerala.
It may be noted five girls from Daringbadi in Kandhamal district were rescued from Berhampur railway station in April by railway police while they were being transported outside Orissa. In January 12 minor girls from the same area in Kandhamal district were rescued in Andhra Pradesh while they were being transported to Tamil Nadu.
Transit point
Mr. Sabat said Berhampur was fast turning out to be a major transit point of child trafficking. Children from poor families in remote areas of Ganjam, Gajapati and Kandhamal districts are being brought to the city to be sent outside the State. He demanded better coordination between police, social activists and railway authorities to check this trafficking.

Closure of srinivasa Lodge Ravulapalam under Immoral traffic Prevention act 1956

On the orders issued by Revenue Divisional Officer Smt. B. Lavanya Veni of Amlapuram sub division, on 14/09/2010, Sub Divisional Police officer Amlapuram Mr. gangadhar, CI Ravulapalam Mr. Muralikrishna & others has closed Srinivasa Lodge  using provision of Section 18 (1) of Immoral traffic Prevention act, 1956 for carrying out organized prostitution.

7 women rescued from prostitution racket; 3 pimps held

 Sun, Sep 5 11:05 PM

Chennai, Sep 5 (PTI) Seven women hailing from Andhra Pradesh and Mumbai, forced into prostitution after being promised a career in films, were rescued by police and three alleged pimps arrested here today. The women were allegedly cheated by three pimps saying they would be given an opportunity to act in movies. But they were forced into prostitution, police said. Acting on a tip-off, police rescued the women from lodges in Periamet area during a surprise raid, an official statement here said. Three alleged pimps -- Philip Thomas (50) and Joshi Joseph (36) of Mumbai and 35-year-old Sreenivasa Rao from Andhra Pradesh, who allegedly forced these women into prostitution were arrested and remanded to judicial custody. Further investigation was on, the statement said adding that the women were sent to a government home.

Kingpin in trafficking case sent to custody

THE HINDU
Date:21/08/2010

Andhra Pradesh - Rajahmundry
RAJAHMUNDRY: Abdul Hamid Omar Abba (50), the kingpin in girl trafficking to Dubai and who was deported to India on August 3 was sent to three days police custody by a Kakinada court. With his arrest the Eluru police hopes to crack down on agents involved in trafficking in the district and other southern States. The issue came to light when two sisters lodged a complaint with the Mandapeta police station of East Godavari about girl trafficking by two locals and others from Chennai, Vellore, according to the DIG, Eluru Range, Mahesh M. Bhagawat.

Cases booked against children's home organisers

THE HINDU
Date:19/08/2010
Andhra Pradesh

TIRUVURU: The police registered cases against two organisers of ‘Nee Rakshana', a private children's home, on Wednesday, following the intervention of local people who brought to light that the home was being run without authorisation.
The police booked cases under Sections 343 (wrongful confinement of children), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and 363 (kidnapping) against L. Venkateswara Rao and R. Swaroopa Rani on the basis of a complaint lodged by a supervisor of ICDS. The three children, who were left in the home by the organisers who shifted other children to Hyderabad, were handed over to the Child Welfare Committee. The police said efforts were on to find out the remaining children and special teams were formed to trace the absconding organisers of the home.

THE HINDU
Date:17/08/2010
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Andhra Pradesh - Eluru
Piquant situation for victims of women trafficking

G. Nagaraja

ELURU: For more than half-a-dozen victims of women trafficking from East and West Godavari districts, reaching back home appears not as easy as their release from flesh trade, thanks to fake claims over their parenthood.

The victims are languishing in a rescue home in Chennai, eagerly waiting for a reunion with their families for over six months ever since their rescue from a brothel by the Chennai police. The fake claims allegedly raised by some traffickers over their parenthood, in a bid to get them back into flesh trade, reportedly makes it difficult for the court in Chennai trying their cases to find their biological parents and send them back home. The court had entrusted the responsibility to a Chennai-based NGO, Just Trust. The NGO, in turn, contacted M.M. Bhagawat, DIG of Police, Eluru range, for help in cross-checking the claims. Mr. Bhagawat said all seven victims were trafficked to Malaysia and Singapore for flesh trade from the twin Godavari districts.

One such victim was a woman from Annadevarapet under the Tallapudi police station. Her links with her parents were established by the district police basing on a complaint of ‘woman missing' reported in the Tallapudi police station on December 24, 2009. Expressing serious concern over the increasing incidence of women trafficking cases in the two districts, the DIG said a request was placed before the Collector for timely relief and early rehabilitation of the victims as such measures would wean them away from flesh trade

Sordid tale of slavery victim - National News

Sordid tBeaten, whipped and deprived of contact with the outside world, an Indian teenager has painfully recalled how she endured a year and a half of hell being forced to work as a prostitute in Dubai brothels.
The 18-year-old, who asked to remain anonymous, came to the UAE believing she was to be employed as a maid to support her family after her father died, told 7DAYS she thought she would die in one of the seedy sex dens.
“I was beaten regularly with a mobile chord and locked up inside flats. I was never allowed to speak to my family or go out. I was abused all the time. It was hell,” she said.
The teen had paid dhs5,000 to an agent in India who promised her a reputable job in the UAE.
“The agent looked like a good man. I trusted him blindly and gave him the money hoping that he would get me the job. Instead he handed over me to the agents who ran a sex racket. I was devastated.”
The young victim said she was met by two men and a woman at Dubai International Airport upon her arrival in the country and taken to a flat in Bur Dubai where around ten other young girls were also being held captive along with her cousin.
“I was put up at a place in Bur Dubai to start with but was later shifted to a flat near fish roundabout in Deira. It was a dingy flat with no ventilation. I was locked up there along with other prisoners,” she said.
“We were never allowed to go outside alone. Someone always used to accompany us and he would keep a close watch on what we were doing. “If we resisted their instructions they would abuse and beat us.
“It was so terribly harrowing.”
She was not allowed any contact with her family back in India during the 18 months she was trapped in the brothels and was deprived of food by her captors.
“Whenever I tried to contact my family they used to snatch away the phone. They would abuse and beat me up. None of my family knew what was happening. I felt like I was dying every day,” the girl added.
The teen was only freed from the hell-hole after a raid on one of the brothels by Dubai Police back in March. Her mother had been worried sick after having no contact with her daughter for a year and a half but the pair were finally reunited after she landed at Hyderabad airport earlier this year.
“I was so shocked to hear of what happened to her. We are really struggling to return to a normal way of life after this,” her mother said.
The young victim spoke of her trauma after Indian police arrested the alleged kingpin of the traffickers at Mumbai airport last Wednesday.
Mahesh Bhagawat, deputy inspector general of police for the Eluru range in Andhra Pradesh, said that the women being held by the traffickers were forced to entertain between ten and 15 customers a day. “They were harassed physically and forced into prostitution. The women were all aged 17 to 20 years old,” he said.
The young girl who hails from a remote village in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh is now trying to start her life afresh.
She has got a job at a shop in Hyderabad and is hoping she can forget what has happened and take care of her family.
“My only concern at the moment is to get my two younger sisters married and see them live happily,” she said.
“What happened to me should not happen to anyone else.”
RINGLEADER SNAREDThe alleged kingpin of the human trafficking ring has been arrested on suspicion of rape.
Abdul Hamid Omar Abba, 50, was detained by cops at Mumbai airport last week for allegedly assaulting the 18-year-old woman who he forced to work as a prostitute in Dubai.
Two other men involved in the sick trade have also been arrested in India.
Five further people are still being hunted by officers, including one woman, who was among those who met the teen at Dubai International Airport and transported her to the brothels.
Indian police said Abba used to live in Bur Dubai and worked as a taxi driver. He is thought to have worked with various agents to bring the women to Dubai to work in the sex trade.
“We are coordinating with the Indian embassy in the UAE to arrest the remaining culprits with the help of Dubai Police and bring them to India. This is a huge and serious racket which has been going on for years,” said Mahesh Bhagawat, deputy inspector general of police for the Eluru range in Andhra Pradesh.
Police say Abba would take dhs5,000 from women who believed they were paying a recruitment company to get a reputable job in the UAE.
He then produced fake birth certificates for the girls to show that they were 30 years old so that they could get visas to work as domestic help.STRIDES TAKEN TO TACKLE THE SORDID GANGSThe UAE has been working to bag traffickers who blight the streets of the Emirates.
The number of human trafficking cases taken to court in 2009 more than doubled from the previous year, according to the annual report from the National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking in the UAE, which was released in May.
The report showed that 43 cases went before the courts in 2009, which involved 86 trafficking victims.
In those cases a total of 125 defendants were prosecuted, and 35 of the 43 cases ended in conviction.
Of those, 21 occurred in Dubai. Fifteen cases were recorded in Sharjah and the Northern Emirates, and seven took place in Abu Dhabi.
In one of the most severe incidents, the Criminal Court in Abu Dhabi sentenced seven men to life in prison - the harshest penalty possible - for running the emirate’s largest known human-trafficking ring.
“For the majority of trafficked persons, it is only when they arrive in the UAE that they realise that the work they are promised does not exist and they are forced instead to get employment in jobs or conditions to which they did not give their consent,” the report said.
fareed.rahman@7days.ae ale of slavery victim - National News

Woman trafficker arrested at Mumbai, brought to Kakinada [14827]

Woman trafficker arrested at Mumbai, brought to Kakinada [14827]
Kakinada, Aug 5 : A special team of East Godavari police deputed by the SP Ghattamaneni Srinivas, has arrested the kingpin of woman trafficking racket Abdul Hamid Omar Abba (50), at Mumbai, and brought him to Kakinada, by flight today.
The team was sent following a communication received from the Mumbai airport immigration authorities on detaining the woman trafficker. He will be produced before the court at Mandapet tomorrow. He is wanted by the police in woman trafficking cases but escaping the police dragnet for the past few months. Two of his local sub agents were already arrested. The Bangalore, based Abba, has lured several young girls of lucrative employment at Dubai, but in reality sold them to gulf agents for landing them into flesh trade. The whole racket came to light only after a woman from Mandapet lodged a complaint after escaping from a brothel house in Dubai, during March this year.' police said.
--UNI

Five held on charge of trafficking in women

THE HINDU
5/08/2010

Staff Reporter

ELURU: A special team led by Kovvuru DSP G. Janaki Sharmila busted a five-member gang allegedly thriving on women trafficking and rescued four persons, including a minor girl. The victims hailed from Rajahmundry, Kovvuru, Tanuku and Vijayawada.
According to M.M. Bhagawath, DIG of Police, Eluru Range, a couple of financiers – Yesu and Muttaiah – based in Tanuku were also arrested on the charge of financing the illegal activity.
They allegedly lent money on interest to Grandhi Naresh, also from Tanuku, for carrying on the activity.
The DIG said that three cases of a similar nature were registered against Naresh in the past.
The police arrested the accused at Nidadavole railway station while they were allegedly transporting the victims to Bangalore and Rayachore.

At large
Another main accused Ravi of Bangalore was at large, the DIG said.

Kingpin in woman trafficking nabbed

Kingpin in woman trafficking nabbed


Kakinada
Wednesday, Aug 4 2010 IST
A special team of East Godavari Police left for Mumbai today following the receipt of communication from the airport authorities there on the detaining the prime accused in the women trafficking case pertaining to Mandapet registered during March this year. Police sources said the accused Bangalore-based Abdul Hamid Omar Abba, was running a racket luring young girls on the promise of providing employment in Gulf countries but actually engaged them in flesh trade there. ''He was operating the clandestine business through two of his agents at Mandapet for quite some time. ''The entire episode came to light when one of the girls, who languished in brothel houses in Dubai for two years, lodged a complaint with Mandapet Police on her return home after undergoing an ordeal.'' Based on her complaint, the police arrested two local agents on March 7 and also sent special team to Bangalore to arrest Abba. However Abba gave a slip to the Andhra Police and had been at large since then. The East Godavari Police declared him as a 'wanted' and communicated to the Immigration Authorities with a request to detain him, the sources added

10 more brothels being closed

THE HINDU
Date:25/07/2010
Andhra Pradesh - Eluru
Drive against trafficking of women

2 RDOs order closure of brothel houses

ELURU: Kovvuru and Eluru Revenue Divisional Officers—D.V. Ramana Reddy and V.R.K. Prabhakara Rao—on Saturday issued orders under the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act (PITA) for closure of 10 brothel houses in their revenue divisions in their capacity as the Divisional Executive Magistrates. The dens were reportedly included a lodge and a beauty parlour in Tanuku.
The police approached the RDOs with a request to exercise their powers under the PITA as part of the on-going drive against the trafficking of women.
The RDOs directed the operators of the brothel houses to vacate the dens and free them of sex trade within a week.
The PITA was invoked by the RDOs after a series of raids on these dens by the police hardly had any impact on the sex trade. Kovvuru DSP G. Janaki Sharmila said the police had foisted 26 cases against traffickers, arrested 103 persons accused of indulging in sex trade and rescued 126 victims in her police sub division in the last one year

India is a World Hub in Human Trafficking - International - Catholic Online

India is a World Hub in Human Trafficking - International - Catholic Online

3 women rescued from flesh trade by CB-CID - Hindustan Times

3 women rescued from flesh trade by CB-CID - Hindustan Times

Flesh trade racket busted

THE HINDU
Flesh trade racket busted
Friday, Jun 25, 2010




Staff Reporter 17 sex workers, including 2 foreigners, rescued
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Raided places include Fortune Katriya and Kens hotels at Punjagutta and Srinagar Colony
Rescued sex workers hail from Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata and rural Andhra Pradesh
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HYDERABAD: The city police on Thursday cracked the whip on flesh trade being organised by procuring sex workers from different parts of the country and abroad and raided different places in the city.
While 16 alleged pimps were arrested, 17 sex workers - including two foreigners - were rescued during the raids conducted by the Commissioner's Task Force officials. The raids revealed that flesh trade was being organised in rented flats, independent houses and even reputed hotels. Among the raided places were Fortune Katriya and Kens hotels at Punjagutta and Srinagar Colony, respectively, the police said. One of the pimps brought a sex worker from Morocco and was allegedly arranging meetings at Fortune Katriya hotel. Another brothel operator brought a noted model from Kolkata to city and provided accommodation to her in Kens hotel.
In other cases, it was found that brothel operators hired flats or independent houses in posh localities of west, north and central zones in the city offering high rents to the house owners through rental agencies.
The rescued hailed from Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, and Bheemavaram, Vizianagaram, Anantapur, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam and Karimnagar in Andhra Pradesh.

TV9 video on closure of brothels in Peddapuram of east Godavari district

18 RCC buildings used for Commercial and sexual exploitation are closed by Sub Divisional Magistrates in East, West Godavari & Krishna District based on Police report for 1 year along with eviction of offenders.

How an Andhra cop became a global anti-trafficking hero

How an Andhra cop became a global anti-trafficking hero


Bombay News.Net

Friday 18th June, 2010 (IANS)

An Andhra Pradesh policeman, who has just been named by the US among nine anti-trafficking heroes worldwide, says a victim-centric approach, roping in NGOs and strict implementation of laws, are behind his success.
'We adopted a victim-centric approach which helped us secure the convictions of 85 traffickers during the last one and a half years. They were sentenced to four to 14 years in jail. This is a benchmark set by Andhra Pradesh. Nowhere in India was such a high conviction rate achieved,' Inspector General of Police Sattaru Umapathi, 57, told IANS in an exclusive interview.
The Hyderabad-based anti-human trafficking nodal officer of the state who led numerous operations across India to rescue victims of human trafficking was named in the Trafficking in Persons Report 2010 released in Washington Monday.
Umapathi is the first Indian government official to get this honour for going beyond the state's borders to rescue victims as per the anti-trafficking protocols of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
He was the first to take the initiative in 2005 when he was in the Andhra Pradesh Police Academy. He held a workshop to create awareness and train 5,000 officers in anti-trafficking.
'Treating a victim as a victim and not as an accused was the biggest attitudinal change brought about during the training. Earlier, we were filing chargesheets against the victims, making them accused,' he said.
'Judicial colloquium, public interactions were held and public prosecutors were also trained. We achieved a synergy. Everybody understood his role. Police, prosecution, judiciary, women and child welfare department and NGOs worked together,' he said.
'Implementation of stringent laws was another key measure. Since a minor can't give her consent, we booked the accused for gang rape in addition to various sections of Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act,' he said.
He said they took their exercise to other parts of the country, something which had never happened earlier.

'We started inter-state rescues under the UNODC protocols. The whole exercise was victim-centric and aimed at seeing that the trafficker was punished,' he said.
'We also developed nodal NGO concept. In cities like Pune, Mumbai, Delhi and other places, we took the help of local NGOs in raids and in conducting trials. The NGOs also helped us in segregation of victims from the accused, counselling the victims and in their rehabilitation,' he said.
'We conduct raids after talking to the victims. The victim is supported from raid to the trial and at the post-trial stage. The NGOs take care of the victim's needs and court processes. Then there is government support. The women and child welfare department is paying Rs.10,000 towards interim relief for each victim after rescue,' explained the officer.
Since 2007, about 2,000 victims, including 200 minors, were rescued during raids in Andhra Pradesh and other parts in India. About 4,000 traffickers and other exploiters were arrested.
'I have been the nodal officer for anti-trafficking since May 2006. A long tenure is also important because if you start something and go back, others may not take it up that vigorously. But now the whole process is institutionalised. We officially have anti-human trafficking units. Whoever comes and sits here has to do it,' he said.
Umapathi is a professional trainer for Indian Police Service officers in India, having been trained in the leadership module by the Department for International Development in Britain in 2003. He also won the Indian police medal in 1996 and the president's police medal for distinguished services in 2008.
As the annual report of the US state department placed India on its tier-2 watch list for the seventh consecutive year, the officer feels 'for a big country like ours, more measures are required'.
'We have to perform a little better. It is a big nation and we are not able to come up to international standards,' he said.

Brothel owner held at Samalkot

Kakinada, Feb 12th: Two minor girls of the city escaped from a brothel at Samalkot on Friday. With the help of an auto-rickshaw driver, the girls reached Samalkot police station. The police took the brothel’s organiser into custody. According to the girls aged around 14 years, a few days ago, a woman Devi from Kattipudi in East Godavari approached the girls’ parents, residents of Kakinada II Town. Devi asked the parents to send the girls along with her and promised them that she would show some work to the girls somewhere in the district. The parents agreed and sent the girls with Devi who sold the girls to the brothel organiser, Vemagiri Missamma, who is living in a Rajiv Gruhakalpa house at Samalkot.


For the last six days, Missamma started pestering the girls to join her work with a person in Hyderabad. The girls refused to do so. On Friday morning, the girls escaped from the house and met an auto-rickshaw driver, G Veeranna. With his help, the girls met the district Congress secretary, Mr U. John Moses, who took them to the police station. Police immediately raided the house and took two women, P. Lakshmi and Devi into custody initially and launched an investigation. Speaking to reporters, the girls said that Missamma was planning to send them to Chennai and Hyderabad for sex work.