Bhubaneswar, Sept. 13: A 23-year-old woman today lodged a complaint with Mahila Police alleging that her husband had forcefully engaged her into prostitution. The woman said her husband also threatened her with dire consequence if she refused to do his bidding.

The woman, a native of Brahmagiri in Puri, was today rescued by some women’s rights activists from a house near Capital Hospital where she was allegedly kept confined by her husband.

“I married him in 2007 and we started living at Chandrasekharpur. But after four months of my marriage, he forced me to sleep with others,” said the complainant.

The woman said her 30-year-old husband had got her into prostitution saying that this would fetch them good money which would be enough for them to buy a house and other comforts of life.

“He kept me at a number of places, including Nayapalli, Housing Board Colony and Kalinga Vihar. During our stay he forced me to sleep with a number of people. Every month, we used to earn around Rs 25,000 in this manner. He used to take most of the money. He has bought two cars and a motorcycle with this money,” the woman said.

The woman, a school dropout, alleged that she was being physically assaulted whenever she refused to obey his orders.

“Finally, I decided to get out of this and go to my village. But ever since, he has been threatening me,” said the woman.

Police officials said a case had been registered in this connection and squads had been constituted to catch her husband.

“Her husband has a long criminal background. He has been to jail in the past in connection with a murder,” said a senior police officer.

Sources said flesh trade racket was mushrooming in the city with pimps targeting various residential areas. “As hotels are not safe nowadays, the pimps are targeting residential areas. They rent houses in residential areas and attract customers. Rented houses are a good cover for their activities,” said a source.

“The pimps generally rent houses whose owners live outside. Unfortunately, house owners are also renting out their premises without checking the antecedents of their tenants. The neighbours also have a responsibility. They should inform the police whenever they see any suspicious activity in their area. This will help us bust such rackets,” said a police officer.