4 arrested for pushing girl into flesh trade

Panaji: Four persons, including a woman, have been arrested for allegedly forcing a girl into flesh trade near here, police said today.

“Four persons, including a woman, had brought the girl from Mumbai to Kolhapur and from there to Goa, where she was pushed into flesh trade and sexually abused for over a month by different people,” Police Inspector Sudesh Naik said.

The four accused – Datta Suryavanshi, Raju Jadhav, Amol Patil and Manisha Suryavanshi, hailing from Kolhapur Maharashtra – were arrested and the girl was rescued from Bhoma village near Ponda town yesterday, police added.

“The girl was kept at a hotel for over a month, and the place was used for running the flesh trade,” Naik said.

Ponda police have filed an FIR against 11 persons, including the four arrested, under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and Goa Children’s Act.

The accused include two unidentified men, who allegedly sexually abused the girl.

Four other persons, including hotel owner and two unidentified persons who had picked up the girl from Panaji bus stand and dropped her at the hotel, have also been booked, police said.

Further investigation is on.