Times of India
MUMBAI, Nov 18: Seventeen-year-old Ria Das (name changed) thought she had seen the worst when her father, a retired militaryman from Kolkata, started having an affair with her friend, leaving her mother badly disturbed.
When a couple urged her to move to Mumbai for better opportunities, Ria agreed. But little did she know that she would land up in a Wadala bar, then to a brothel at Malwani and finally end up being sold to an Arab national.
On Sunday, after a 10-month ordeal, Ria managed to alert the local police and got three of her captors arrested, before she could be sent away with the Arab. The police has the Arab's photograph and would soon issue a look-out notice for him at the airport.
According to the police, Ria comes from a well-off family in Kolkata. However, her friendship with a girl she met on a football field shattered the peace at her home. "Ria's mother later found out that her husband was having an affair with her daughter's friend. The couple started having fights. When Ria couldn't concentrate on her studies, her father sent her away to a boarding school,'' a police officer said.
When Ria returned home during the vacations, she found her friend had started living in her house and her mother had turned into a nervous wreck. She left home, confused what to do next. That's when she met a couple, Raju and Devi, who urged her to go to Mumbai with them to find a good job.
In Mumbai, the couple started finding work for her at beer bars in Wadala. Subsequently, they took her to a brothel at Malwani. "At Malwani, Ria lived with Sagir Ahmed (52) and his second wife, Ishad Begum (38). The couple would force her to solicit clients but Riya would not give in,'' said sub-inspector P Raorane.
"An Arab national was visiting Sagir and Ishad and he spotted Ria in the house. He then bought her some jewellery and meals, and took her photographs with him.'' The Arab had actually struck a deal with Sagir and Ishad to buy Ria for Rs 1 lakh. In the past few months, he sent across Rs 45,000 and Rs 15,000 in cash to the couple, through hawala.
While Sagir, Ishad and their neighbour Anees were making arrangements to send her away with the Arab, Ria managed to escape from the house and approached the Malwani police. The trio was arrested for kidnapping, intimidation and selling a minor for prostitution. They have been remanded to police custody till November 21 by a local court.
Ria will undergo a medical examination. Currently lodged at a shelter for women, she would be sent back to her family in Kolkata once the police inform her parents.