A Delhi court has awarded 10-year imprisonment to a woman who ran a brothel here for forcing a minor girl into prostitution.
Additional Sessions Judge Kaveri Baweja jailed Haseena and fined her Rs.20,000 on charges of inducing a minor to carry on prostitution and for detaining the less than 17 years old victim.
The court also recommended payment of compensation to the girl for being forced into prostitution - "a crime most derogatory for a woman".
The judge directed closure of the brothel after eviction of the people residing there.
The court convicted Haseena by relying on the testimonies of the victim, the police team which rescued her and her bone tests conducted during investigation that showed she was less than 17 years of age when she was brought to Delhi.
The order came on the complaint of the victim, a native of Darjeeling in West Bengal who was rescued from a brothel on G.B. Road here.
In her complaint, the girl had alleged that she was brought to Delhi in 2009 by co-accused Rajni, who is absconding, on a promise of getting her a good job.
The girl alleged that during police raids she and other girls were hidden away.
During the trial, Haseena claimed that she had been falsely implicated in the case and that the victim was not a minor.
