A woman running a brothel in the city has been sentenced by a court here to ten years imprisonment for forcing a minor girl into prostitution.
Additional Sessions Judge Kaveri Baweja awarded the jail term to convict Haseena for the offences of inducing a minor girl to carry on prostitution and for detaining the victim, who was less than 17-year-old.
The judge has also directed closure of the brothel after eviction of the people residing there.
"The victim has been held to be a 'minor' under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, and convict Haseena is found guilty of the offences punishable under sections 5(1)(d) [induces a person (minor) to carry on prostitution] and 6 (detaining a person in premises where prostitution is carried on) of the Act.
"...The above named convict is directed to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of 10 years," the judge said and imposed a total fine of Rs 20,000 on the convict.
The court has also recommended payment of compensation to the minor girl for being forced into prostitution, "a crime which is most derogatory for a woman".
It also observed that while those soliciting or seducing any person for purpose of prostitution are convicted under the Act, their "customers" are not treated as accused under the statute.
The order came on the complaint of the victim, a native of Darjeeling in West Bengal, who was rescued from a brothel located at G B Road here during a routine police raid.
The girl in her complaint had alleged that she was brought to Delhi in 2009 by co-accused Rajni, who is currently absconding and has been declared a proclaimed offender, on a promise of getting her a good job.
After being brought here, she was forced to engage in prostitution against her wishes and whenever she refused she was beaten up, the girl had alleged, adding that during routine police raids she and other girls were hidden away.
