The agony of the rescued female child was avoidable had those who manned the Bagh e Bahu police station in the past performed their duties in all earnestness without any fear and favor.
JAMMU : Raid by cops and subsequent arrest of one Swarna under POCSO Act has exposed the dirty affairs which were flourishing with impunity in a residential area since long inside a brothel house at Qasim Nagar in Bahu Fort area. The flesh trade had been going apace for the last more than a decade but strangely none in the past bothered to bust the nexus and book the alleged kingpin lady under the stringent provisions of law.
Sources in the District Special Branch divulging the modus operandi of Swarna said “This notorious lady had been running the inter and intra state trade of flesh by luring several girls including teenagers from Kashmir, Doda, Rambam, Udhampur and adjoining Punjab on the pretext of ensuring a “safe and secure” future”.
The lady in question was also proactive in sale of drugs at her brothel in House No 196, Qasim Nagar. At any given point of time, there used to be a group of 8 to 10 girls inside her premises whereat the customers used to flock for their evil intents”, added another DSB officer.
Reliable sources in police said that the teenage girl is in a pathetic state and trauma as she was first doped and then offered to human monsters at brothel as well as in the vicinity of the area. Ignoring her tender age, she was sexually abused 8 to 10 times in a day.
Expressing his deep angst, renowned social activist and anti corruption crusader, Prof SK Bhalla says “It is really flabbergasting that the day when the girl child was rescued from the stronghold of a brothel operator, the entire UT was celebrating Women’s day with much fan fare. Shamefully, the majority of media in our UT preferred to observe discreet silence on this matter of life and death which tantamounts to the repeat of infamous Rasana rape case. Even, the silence of child and women activists raises a huge question on their style of working”.
The locals of the area said that entire night this Swarna used to ferry girls for customers whose vehicles were visibly parked on the main road. This all merrily went on right under the nose of concerned police station. “We are fed up with the shameful acts of omission and commission of Swarna who used to run a prostitution center in a fearless manner. Now, we expect a tangible relief at the hands of authorities”, said residents of the locality.
Except Inspector Vijay Singh Choudhary, none of the SHOs who headed the Bagh e Bahu Police Station in the past dared to put an end to the brothel operations of Swarna during his stint, added one cop who once used to be posted in the area as sector officer of CID.
There are reports that Swarna enjoyed clout in the corridors of power as her supply chain was deep rooted which included influential businessmen as well as tainted creamy layer of Jammu society. Using this clout, she always escaped the dragnet of law for years together. This is evident from the fact that last year she was booked in FIR No 0088 dated 10/09/2022 at Bagh e Bahu PS under stringent provisions of law to curb Immoral Trafficking. But, surprisingly she was allowed to roam freely to continue her sinful operations thanks to Inspector Sikander Singh Chauhan’s inimitable style of policing.
The die was ultimately cast by the incumbent SHO Inspector Surinder Raina besides ASI Vandana who acted swiftly despite all odds on a complaint of the parents of the rescued child. Our daughter is a 14 year old child who was ruthlessly sexually abused at the hands of the history sheeter Swarna and urged the higher ups in police to investigate the matter and book everyone who were involved in her exploitation, avers the mother of the victim.