Woman sentenced to 14 years in jail for pushing two minor girls into prostitution

Thane: A special court in Maharashtra’s Thane city has sentenced a 40-year-old housewife to 14 years of rigorous imprisonment for pushing two minor girls into prostitution.

In his order of May 30, Special POCSO Act Judge D S A Deshmukh also imposed a fine of Rs 14,000 on the convict, a resident of Mumbai’s Goregaon area.

According to Special Public Prosecutor Rekha Hiwrale, a total of seven witnesses were examined during the trial.

The woman, a resident of Mumbai, was apprehended with two minor girls at a hotel near the Passport Office, in Thane’s Wagle Estate area on April 5, 2021.

The court was told that ‘Minor Girl-A’ and the woman’s daughter were friends. The convict told Minor Girl-A, who came from a poor family, that she would get good money through prostitution. Subsequently, the woman used to send her to customers, the court was told.

The second victim, identified in court documents as ‘Minor Girl-M’, corroborated this account.

Considering the gravity of the offence, the judge said, this is not the case to show leniency to the accused. He then sentenced the woman to 14 years of rigorous imprisonment.