MARGAO
In a landmark judgement, two accused convicted and held guilty by the South Goa District and Sessions Court under the provisions of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, were sentenced to undergo imprisonment for periods ranging from two years to eight years.
South Goa Additional Sessions Judge Pooja Kavlekar has sentenced accused Suraj Sharma, convicted under section 370 (1) of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to undergo simple imprisonment for eight years and to pay a fine of Rs 50,000 and in default of payment of fine, shall undergo simple imprisonment of 6 months.
The accused, who is convicted under section 3 of Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act 1956, is sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for two years and to pay a fine of Rs 2,000 and in default of payment of fine, shall undergo simple imprisonment of one month.
Judge Kavlekar has sentenced accused Santosh Sonawane, convicted under section 5 of Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act 1956, to undergo rigorous imprisonment of three years and to pay a fine of Rs 2,000 and in default of payment of fine, shall undergo simple imprisonment of one month.
The period during which the accused have been in custody shall be set off, the Judge said.
The case of the prosecution was that the accused were running a massage parlour at Colva, where Sharma owned the massage parlour and Sonawane was the manager, and they procured and harboured the victim girls for exploitation.
It prosecution further stated that the massage parlour was in fact a brothel where the accused were living on the earnings of the prostitution by inducing them to carry out prostitution and this was done in the vicinity of a public place.
The raid was conducted by former Police Inspector Sattish Gawde under the supervision of former Crime Branch SP Shobit Saxena and former DySP Sunita Sawant at the massage parlour named Aayur Saloon and Ayurvedic Massage on February 6, 2021.
