Mumbai: 38-yr-old woman arrested while ‘trying to sell’ her daughters

Police officers said a probe is on to see if the woman was involved in the sale of other minor girls.

A woman was arrested by Bandra police on Monday for allegedly trying to sell both her daughters, one of whom is a minor. The rescued girls, aged 16 and 19 years, are in government shelters.

According to anti-trafficking NGO, International Justice Mission, which tipped-off and aided the Kherwadi police in the rescue, the accused woman, aged 38, and her daughters were caught at a Bandra restaurant on Monday where she was in the process of selling them to a “customer” for Rs 40,000 and Rs 10,000.

The woman has been booked under sections 370 and 370 A (2) of the Indian Penal Code, sections 4 and 5 of Immoral Traffic Prevention Act and sections 4, 8 and 17 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO). She has been remanded in police custody till April 26.

Police officers said a probe is on to see if the woman was involved in the sale of other minor girls. “This method of arranging transactions in public spaces is the new modus operandi of traffickers in the suburbs. Usually, they meet in cafes so that they can easily hide in the crowd,” said Sanjay Macwan, the Regional Director of the NGO. The traffickers operate through a private network and meetings are arranged over cellphones and through word of mouth, officials said.

The minor was presented before the child welfare committee and later, taken to the shelter. Her elder sister has been taken to another shelter. According to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Anil Kumbhare, investigations are on.

“This is the third rescue this month where we have witnessed that family members of victims are the traffickers. There is need for more social awareness for this problem,” said Michael Yangad, the Director of Operations of the NGO, Mumbai.

Investigating officer, Inspector Jagdeo Kalapad, said the police laid a trap by planting a bogus customer. “When the woman came with the two girls, we did not know they were her daughters. She told the customer to choose one and take her to his room. She insisted that the girls should not be taken to a guest house because one of them is a minor.”

A report by the Maharashtra State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights in 2017 says that in Mumbai, one lakh females serve six customers a day in sex trade, generating an estimated revenue of Rs 2,550 crore a year. Minors are 5.5 per cent of the total number of sex workers, with most being between 15 and 17 years.