JOIN USDimple had forced her 13-year-old daughter into the flesh trade in connivance with Rani, the owner of a beauty parlour on Gaushala Road in Phagwara, 120 km from here, a police official said.
The mother was arrested Wednesday. A case of rape and conspiracy has been registered against her and the beauty parlour owner under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Station House Officer (SHO) A.S. Chahal said.
He said the police were trying to track down the men who had sexually exploited the minor. They too are likely to be booked. Police said Dimple, who had divorced her husband over six years ago, pushed her daughter into prostitution nearly six months back. She had stopped her daughter from going to school and started sending her to the beauty parlour.
The matter came to light Wednesday after the girl left her home in Hadiabad locality following a quarrel with her mother. Some people later saw a man pulling her into a car on Plahi Road and reported the matter to the police. The police found that the man pulling at the girl was a driver sent by her mother to get her back. When the police questioned the girl, she spilled the details about her ordeal.