Involved in a flesh trade racket in Mira-Bhayander area of Thane in Maharashtra, two women got arrested and four other women were rescued on Wednesday, according to the Mira Bhayander Vasai Virar police.
The two women accused of flesh trading were identified as Pinky Dubey (29) and Arpita Goshal (31). They belonged to the Goregaon and Kalyan area in Thane respectively. The deputy commissioner of police, Amit Kale told a news agency that the police had received a tip-off against the perpetrators. Acting on which the police set up a trap and raided a place in Uttan Dhavi Donger on Tuesday.
The women rescued during the raid remain unnamed. According to a police official, the accused have been charged with section 370 of the Indian Penal Code and relevant provisions of Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act. According to section 370, "Whoever imports, exports, removes, buys, sells or disposes of any person as a slave, or accepts, receives or detains against his will any person as a slave, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine."
According to the National Crime Records Bureau report of 2020, every day about 105 women go missing in Maharashtra. The report also showed the highest cases of human trafficking and missing women in Maharashtra. About 17 women are forced into flesh trading every week. The states that followed Maharashtra in the were Madhya Pradesh and Bengal.
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Out of the total 989 victims of human trafficking, 88 per cent of them were women and 6 per cent were children. A leading newspaper reported that most of these women are subjected to bonded labour, organ trafficking, drug peddling and sexual exploitation.
In comparison to 2018, the number of missing women increased by 13 per cent. In Maharashtra, about 95 per cent of human trafficking victims were sexually exploited through flesh trade. In 2018, out of 4,562 missing children in Maharashtra, 55 per cent of them were girls.
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