Cuttack Couple Forces Minor Bangladeshi Girl into Prostitution, Arrested

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Police arrested a couple in Cuttack for allegedly forcing a minor girl from Bangladesh into prostitution, an officer said on Monday.

The police on Sunday detained the couple identified as Veera Gujur Choudhary (55) of Rajasthan and Jasmine (36) of Keonjhar in Odisha. They were arrested based on the allegation made by the 16-year-old-Bangladeshi girl who was rescued by police from the Link Road area under the jurisdiction of Madhupatna police station area on November 9.

The girl was later handed over to the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), Cuttack, said Cuttack DCP Jagmohan Meena.

Meena said the police started an investigation into the case based on the information provided by the rescued girl who was illegally brought from Bangladesh. The mobile phone call records of the couple "indicate" their involvement in the crime, he said.

Police sources said that the couple ran the racket from a rented house and the role of the house owner is also under investigation. Police are exploring possible links to other people in the network.

The minor girl had named five agents, including two women, involved in the flesh trade. She had also mentioned their addresses and contact numbers in her statement earlier recorded by the police.

As per information provided by her, she was brought to Kolkata from Dhaka around August-September and then taken to Bhubaneswar. She is a Bangladeshi but has no identity proof or any travel documents. It is yet to be ascertained how she landed in Cuttack, CWC chairman Pramod Kumar Acharya told reporters.

Meanwhile, Madhupatna Police Station in Cuttack have registered a case under various sections of BNS, POCSO Act and IT Act. The allegations were framed based on the report of the CWC which counselled the girl.

The DCP said necessary steps are being taken to inform the Bangladesh High Commission about the incident. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Republic and is published from a syndicated feed.)