‘Sex racket’ case: Victim names politician, cops

Suhail A Shah

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Anantnag, February 6

A victim of an alleged prostitution ring, rescued by the police from south Kashmir’s Kulgam district, has alleged the involvement of a lawmaker of the Peoples Democratic Party and some police officers in the racket.

The allegations have been made by an unidentified girl in a video. The girl, who has covered her face in the video, speaks about how she was forced into the prostitution and then rescued.

The veracity of the video could not be independently ascertained. The video has, however, been shot by some local journalists and is being widely shared on the social media.

“I was drugged at a friend’s place and an indecent video was shot by her family. They then forced me into prostitution and had been sending me to Jammu regularly. This time around, however, I was rescued by the police,” says the girl in the video.

After being prompted by the scribes shooting her, the girl takes the name of a PDP lawmaker who she believes is part of the racket.

“The woman who forced me into this had once asked me to meet the MLA at 2 am. I, however, refused,” the girl says. “I was forced to indulge in indecency with a Jammu-based Station House Officer. I don’t know his name but I recognise him,” she says further.

The police have maintained that it was prima facie a case of kidnapping and further investigation was on.

A senior police officer said: “On January 29, we received a complaint from a person alleging that his minor daughter had been kidnapped.”

“The police swung into action and recovered the girl within 24 hours from Banihal,” the police officer said. He said three persons had been arrested in connection with the kidnapping case.

A case under Sections 363 and 120-B of the RPC has been registered.

“We are investigating the case. Whether it is a prostitution ring or not will only be ascertained after proper investigation,” the police officer said. He said a special investigation team had been formed to probe the case.