Rajkot: Aji Dam police on Thursday arrested two women for allegedly forcing a 12-year-old girl into prostitution, for four days, after promising her catering work.The arrests came after the girl’s mother, a labourer, 36, who lives in the Punit Nagar area, filed a complaint against Rekha Sagathiya (29) and Alpa alias Bhuri Galchar (43) and others.The complaint states that Rekha approached the girl on Sep 11 while she was on her way to a shop and offered her catering work. She then took the girl to Gondal Chowkdi. From there, they travelled by autorickshaw to Aji Dam Chowkdi, where a man on a scooter took them to a house in the Manda Dungar area.The complaint alleges that the girl was sexually assaulted by several men at the house, over the course of four days. Police said Rekha took the girl there every day after her parents left for work. The women brought men to the premises, collected took money from them and gave the girl Rs 500, police said.On Sep 14, the girl’s mother was told by a neighbour that the child had been seen leaving with Rekha. Later that evening, Rekha took the girl home and told her mother that she had taken her for catering work. She also handed over Rs 500 but refused to provide details of the person who had supposedly employed the girl.The family later questioned the girl at a neighbour’s house. She broke down and told them that she had been taken to Manda Dungar, where she had been sexually abused.Aji Dam police registered a case under Sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act; Sections 64(1), 65(1), 137(2), 87 and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Sections 4 and 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act.Investigating officer Hareshkumar Patel said the two women were arrested soon after the complaint was registered. Police are investigating the identities and roles of other individuals who may have been at the house.Investigators are also examining the women’s involvement in the flesh trade and checking their criminal records, police sources said.
