Accused Nandlal Patil at Vakola police station
A week after a 16-year-old Vakola girl was reported missing, police have found her and arrested her friend who allegedly promised her a good lifestyle, but planned to force her into prostitution. After laying a trap, Vakola police nabbed Rani (name changed), who is also a minor and resides in the same locality, when she arrived at Borivli railway station with the victim yesterday.
On Friday, police had arrested 49-year-old Nandlal Patil in the same case.
MiD DAY in its article (‘Handicapped man nabbed for trafficking girls’, July 13) had reported on the incident wherein the man would target girls from poor families, luring them with a promise of a good lifestyle and then force them into flesh trade within the country or abroad.
Fed up of poverty
The victim, a Std X pass out, had left home on July 7 after telling her parents that she was going to collect her result. According to sources from Vakola police station, the victim before leaving her residence had written a small note to her parents stating that she is unhappy with their poor standard of living and was leaving for a better life. The source said that later in the evening, the victim met both accused Rani and Patil at Santacruz railway station after which both the girls headed for neighbouring Gujarat.
After a missing persons complaint was lodged, during their investigations police got to know that Rani had a boyfriend who resides in Ratnagari. Suspecting that both the girls would probably take shelter there, a police team was dispatched to Ratnagiri but the duo was not present.
Saved by the bell
Luckily, while the cops were interrogating Rani’s boyfriend in Ratnagari, he received a call from her wherein she notified him that she was in Surat.
The cops told the boyfriend to ask Rani to come with the victim to Mumbai to decide the future course of action.
Yesterday, when Rani along with the victim arrived at Borivli railway station, the boyfriend directed the cops to them, but on seeing the cops both the girls started to flee and were nabbed after the cops gave chase.
“The 16-year-old girl Rani was forcing the victim into the flesh trade and was in the process of selling her. We have arrested the girl and she will be sent to the remand home. A medical test will be conducted on the victim, after which she would be handed over to her parents. Patil is still in police custody,” said Ravindra Sawant, police inspector at Vakola police station.
Police have booked both Rani and Patil under Section 366 A of the IPC.
