Tricked into drugs, sex racket, say three Ugandan women

Three Ugandan women filed a police complaint saying they had been tricked into a sex and drugs racket by Indian placement agencies, while the external affairs ministry Tuesday said it has written to the Ugandan mission here on the issue.

The women registered a complaint with Deputy Commissioner (south and southeast) Nila Mohanan, saying several placement agencies were operating in and around Delhi that lured African women with assurances of plum jobs but instead forced them into sex and drug rackets.

Ministry of external affairs spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said they have suggested to the Ugandan High Commission to provide consular services to the three Ugandan women.

"This morning also we received a communication from the Delhi government indicating that three Ugandan women, who had come to India on Jan 17, have requested that they be sent back to Uganda because they were lured to India under false pretences," he said.

The Delhi Commission of Women has also written to Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi demanding a probe into the allegations levelled by the three Ugandan women. 

NCW chairperson Barkha Singh told IANS that she has demanded a probe into the matter. 

"I stated in the letter that the police commissioner should chip in and the probe should be initiated by him," she said.

The three women stay in Khirki Extension, in Malviya Nagar area, where Delhi Law Minister Somnath Bharti along with some AAP members carried out a midnight raid last month following allegations of a "drugs and prostitution racket" being run there.

Bharti and his group had rounded up some African women and made them undergo medical tests. The incident provoked an uproar, following which the Indian government summoned worried African envoys to condemn the incident and assure them that it was an aberration.

The AAP, especially Bharti, has attracted much flak for the move.