The Thane sessions court has sentenced a couple and their relative to 10 years in prison for forcing three women and two minors into prostitution.
The victims were rescued on August 21, 2012, during a raid by the Anti-Human Trafficking Cell of Thane police and International Justice Mission, an NGO. Two victims were 16 years old, two were aged 25, and one was 22 years old when they were rescued. Since 2013, three judges have heard the case. Judge S.C. Khalipe said, “It has been proved that the accused accepted money for providing girls for prostitution and lived off those earnings.”
The accused were charged under sections of the Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act and Sections 366 A (procuration of minor girl), 366 B (importation of girl from foreign country) and 372 (selling minor for purposes of prostitution) of the IPC.