States & UTs

    'Escort websites' a challenge for Goa cops as they fight prostitution

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    The Hawk
    September17/ 2023
    Last Updated:

    Panaji: Two decades ago the Goa government had managed to demolish the infamous 'Red Light Area' from Baina beach of port town in South Goa, However, as the era of technology dawned, the flesh trade found its place on 'escort and massage' websites, which has now become a major challenge for the police to stop.

    Last week, the Goa police busted an international sex trade ring operating between Kenya and India and rescued five women with the arrest of three persons in Kenya and Nigeria.

    According to the police young, educated, and vulnerable Kenyan women were falsely promised jobs in the hospitality industry by agents working on behalf of traffickers based in Goa.

    "After being brought to India, the traffickers seized the women's passports and visas, forcing them into prostitution under threat of violence and imposing a debt of Rs 5-Rs 8 lakh," the police said.

    Initially the police arrested accused persons Maria Dorcas, 28, and Wilkista Achista, 22, both natives of Kenya for allegedly running this sex trade. Later the police arrested one Charles Aihun, 32, a native of Nigeria, from Bengaluru, while they were trying to trace another accused, Olokpa, a Nigerian national who had been absconding since the sex racket was busted.

    Charles Aihun was booked under sections 370, 370 (A), 370(3), 212 r/w 34 IPC & Sections 4, 5 & 8 of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act.

    —IANS