Sex racket run by 17-yr-old girl busted in Navi Mumbai; 4 women rescued

Thane: Police have busted a flesh trade racket allegedly run by a 17-year-old girl at a hotel in Navi Mumbai and rescued four women who were forced into prostitution, an official said on Wednesday.

Acting on a tip-off, the police's anti-human trafficking cell team raided the hotel located in Vashi area on Tuesday after sending a decoy customer there, the official from APMC police station said.

The accused girl, from Malad in neighbouring Mumbai, would give some part of the money received from prostitution to the victims and keep the rest for herself, he said quoting the FIR.

After the raid at the hotel, the police rescued four women, all aged around 20 and including one from Nepal and two from Bihar. They have been sent to a rehabilitation home.

The police also seized a mobile phone, a watch and cash collectively worth Rs 84,030, besides bogus currency notes with a face value of more than Rs 1.5 lakh, the official said.

A case has been registered against the accused under Indian Penal Code section 370 (buying or disposing of any person as slave) and provisions of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act-1956, the police added.