In a shocking incident in Kolkata, a teenage boy allegedly sold his teenage girlfriend into prostitution for ₹40,000 in Sonagachi, the red-light area in the city. After a missing complaint was filed by the mother of the girl, police launched a probe and rescued her, while the boy and two others involved in the crime have been arrested.
According to police sources, the boy had met the girl on Facebook, and gradually this developed into a romantic relationship. The girl is from the Sundarban area in South 24 Pargana district, while the boy is from Dholahat in the same district. After trapping the girl, the boy convinced her to visit Kolkata with him under the pretext of marriage and outing.
After the girl went missing, her mother filed a missing person complaint with the Dholahat police station. The police immediately launched a probe, and eventually traced her to Dharmatalla in Kolkata, from where she was rescued. According to information provided by the girl, three persons were nabbed. The juvenile who sold her, a man named Zaidul Shaikh who purchased her, and a prostitute named Mehrana Khatoon alias Tania who facilitated the ‘deal’.
According to Mandirbazar SDPO Biswajit Naskar, after bringing the girl to Kolkata on the pretext of marriage, the boy sold her to Zaidul Shaikh in a hotel in Arambagh in Hooghly for Rs 40,000. She also told the police that she was raped in a hotel in Ballyganj and in the Arambagh hotel where she was sold. Sex worker Mehrana Khatoon was involved in the deal to sell the girl, the police said. Zaidul was going to place the girl in the Sonagachi red light for prostitution.
On the basis of the statements of the girl, the police arrested Zaidul Shaikh and Mehrana Khatoon, while the boy has been detained as per Juvenile Justice Act. The police have registered a case against the arrested persons under sections of kidnapping and rape charges and also under relevant sections of the POCSO Act.
The two arrested adults were presented before a court in Kakdwip on Tuesday. Further probe on the case is going on.
