Photo Courtesy: India Today Group
Aizawl: A collaborative rescue operation led by the Mizoram Police and the state Women and Child Development Department successfully recovered five women, including two minors, from a sex trafficking network operating within a spa in Rudrapur, Uttarakhand. Authorities confirmed that six individuals, including the facility owner and the suspected mastermind, have been taken into custody.
The investigation began after a survivor filed an FIR at the Aizawl All Women Police Station on May 1. According to the complaint, the women had been recruited under the false promise of legitimate employment at a salon with a monthly salary of Rs 20,000. Upon arriving in Uttarakhand in October of last year, they were coerced into prostitution and forced to serve between three and nine customers daily. Survivors reported that they were frequently compelled to consume alcohol and other substances while being held in locked facilities.
Financial exploitation was a significant component of the operation, as the victims were rarely paid their promised wages. The traffickers deducted costs for food, travel, and accommodation, leaving the women with approximately Rs 500 per month for personal expenses. After a successful escape attempt on April 4, during which the victims broke a gate lock, they returned to Aizawl to report the abuse.
Following the report, a Special Investigation Team was established under the Aizawl South SDPO. Acting on intelligence that additional women remained trapped, authorities conducted a joint raid in Rudrapur on May 5. The rescued victims are currently receiving medical care and trauma counseling under the supervision of the local Child Welfare Committee. Officials are now coordinating efforts to safely repatriate the women to Mizoram while legal proceedings continue under the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
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