72 women rescued in GB road

15 sex workers from Andhra Pradesh in safe hands, 13 arrested

Seventy-two women, including 16 minors, were rescued from three brothels in GB Road from central Delhi after a joint raid was conducted by the Delhi police and Andhra Pradesh police on Monday morning.

Twelve women and a man have been detained for questioning by Andhra Pradesh Police.
The action was taken after a trafficked minor, who ran away from one of the brothels, registered a case in Andhra Pradesh in July 2011, said Devesh Chandra Srivastva, additional commissioner of police (central).

Revelation by the girls

The girl had revealed the entire process of abuse and torture in the brothels. She had given a statement in a court in Anandapuram saying there were many girls aged between 17 to 24 years from Andhra Pradesh, who were being sexually abused and tortured against their will in Delhi’s red light area.

The court had directed Andhra Pradesh police to take necessary action.

“The Andhra Pradesh Police had then approached us for support for conducting a raid to rescue the girls,” Srivastva added.

Around 70 personnel, including women constables, were part of the raid. It included forty personnel from Delhi police’s crime branch, 23 personnel of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of  Andhra Pradesh Police and a team of Kamla Market police station.

Teams of two non-profit organisations – Childline India Foundation and Shakti Vahini also accompanied the raiding party.

The raid

The raid began at 8:30 am and went on till around 11 am. Seventy two sex workers, including 16 minors were rescued.

Fifteen of the sex workers are from Andhra Pradesh, while the rest are from West Bengal, Maharashtra, and Bihar,”police said.

While the 15 Andhra Pradesh women will be taken back by the state police, the others are being counselled by Childline India Foundation and Shakti Vahini at Kamla Market police station.

“The 16 minors have been sent to a children’s home after a medical examination. They will be produced before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) in Mayur Vihar on Tuesday,” said Childline India Foundation spokesperson.

“Some of the rescued women were working as sex workers willingly while some were forced in to it because of monetary constraints,” he added.

Delhi Police said they will take action if they receive any complaint from any of the rescued women. Further investigation is on.