Nobody knows who owns GB Road brothels, says DCW

No government agency in the national capital seems to know of the actual owners of the brothels operating in the GB Road area, the Delhi Commission for Women has found.

The DCW had asked various government agencies like Delhi Jal Board, municipal corporations, Delhi Police and Women and Child Department to ascertain the ownership of brothels.

However, at a meeting convened on Wednesday, all agencies failed to provide any record of their ownership.

Under the law, if a minor is rescued from a brothel, it should be closed down and an FIR should be registered against the owners.

But in case of GB Road, the owners are untraceable. FIRs are therefore registered against those identified as ‘managers’, who are mostly sex workers and have been living in the brothels for long.

“It is suspected that the real owners of the brothels run huge trafficking rackets and remain hidden from the system,” a commission official said.

During the meeting, DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal Jaihind expressed shock that despite brothels existing on GB Road for a long time no one has ever bothered to find their ownership.

The Delhi Jal Board stated that it is not possible for them to ascertain ownership of brothels as their records are very old. Power distribution company BSES has sought more time as they claim that the records are very old and are dumped in an old record room, which they are trying to clean.

The additional district magistrate informed the commission that they have no records on the ownership of the brothels and they are with the municipal corporation. However, the civic agency informed that they are looking through their records and will get back in some time.

“This exercise by DCW to ascertain the ownership of brothels is very crucial because the brothels are operated by the mafia and one needs to understand the money trail. Also, whenever convictions happen under The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, these brothel owners are never arrested for no one knows who they are. It is suspected that these people may be very rich and powerful,” the official said.

Meanwhile, it was decided that joint surveys would be conducted by teams of DCW, Delhi Police and NGOs to search brothels for trafficked women. Also, Public Works Department (PWD) informed the commission that they would start installing lights at dark spots and at intersections of GB road in the next 15 days.

The Delhi Police sought high definition CCTV cameras to be put up in the area. The DCW then asked the PWD to provide those.