Bhubaneswar, Sept. 27: A 22-year-old Bangladeshi girl today alleged that she was being forced to join sex trade by the owner of a beauty parlour at Old Town.
The girl, whom a group of social activists rescued from the city early this week, today registered a police complaint in this connection.
The victim, who appeared to be an illegal immigrant, said one Raju, who is in his 20s, had brought her to Bhubaneswar from Bangladesh via Calcutta on the pretext of giving her a job in an embroidery shop. Raju, too, is a Bangladeshi and absconding.
“I reached the city on September 10. Raju took me to a beauty parlour at Old Town. Later, the parlour owner asked me to join sex trade. I stayed in the parlour and managed to escape from their clutches on September 23,” she alleged.
A group of social activists found her crying near Kalpana Square in the city. “She narrated her ordeal to us. Raju told her that she had no option but to join the trade as she had come to India illegally and did not have either passport or visa. If the authorities got to know, she would land in jail,” said a social activist, who brought her to Mahila police station.
The girl from rural Bangladesh, came into India on a country boat. The girl said that she was part of a group of girls, whom Raju had brought from Bangladesh. Raju has been ferrying people from Bangladesh to Odisha, promising them good jobs here, she alleged.
While the girl and the social activists said they had submitted a detailed complaint to the police, inspector in charge of Mahila police station Sarojini Nayak expressed ignorance about the incident. “I have no knowledge about any such complaint,” she said.
On September 13, a 23-year-old girl lodged a complaint against her husband, alleging that he had forced her into prostitution. The police arrested one Reena Behera, 49, who was allegedly running a sex racket along with the husband of the complainant.
The police suspected involvement of at least 15 girls in the racket allegedly run by Reena. “We have all details of the girls involved in the racket and are conducting raids to nab them,” said a police official.
