Crackdown on Thane prostitutes

MUMBAI, AUG 16: The Thane city police have launched a massive crackdown on prostitutes operating in the vicinity of Thane railway station...

MUMBAI, AUG 16: The Thane city police have launched a massive crackdown on prostitutes operating in the vicinity of Thane railway station, registering 117 cases in the last one month alone. A special police squad, including two lady sub-inspectors and four lady constables have been deployed to arrest the prostitutes while soliciting customers. Police sources claim that the drive has helped dip the incidence of prostitution in the area.

More than 20 prostitutes have been plying their trade at Thane railway station. The prostitutes are residents of the slums of Ulhasnagar, Kalwa, Mumbra and Ghatkopar. Said Sambhaji Bahirat, a sub-inspector at Thane railway police station, 8220;Earlier, we would rarely arrest the women as they were discreet and worked late at night without causing the commuters any trouble. But when they began operating even before nightfall, we stepped up the patrol, routinely arresting them.8221;

On being caught, the railway police book a case against the prostitute under the Immoral TrafficPrevention ITP Act, 1956 and present her before the Railway Court at Kalyan. The court then slaps a penalty of Rs 500 and/or imprisonment of seven days. This proved to be a deterrent for the prostitutes operating within the railway premises, and they spilled onto the streets outside the station, which falls under the jurisdiction of the city police.

Senior Police Inspector Bhagwan Tarde of Thane city police station told Express Newsline, 8220;The prostitutes would line the main road outside Thane station and became a nuisance for women commuters. Initially, we used to do routine patrolling at regular hours everyday.8221; During this period, till the end of June, only 17 cases were registered.

But when the problem reached alarming proportions by June-end, the DCP of Zonal-I P S Solanke commissioned a special squad on the job. 8220;Within a month, the incidence of prostitution in the Thane station area is almost nil. Not only do we arrest every prostitute found on the streets, but also try and catch hercustomers. A case is registered under Section 110 and 117 for indecent behavior in a public place against the prostitute as well as the customer. In the past, the prostitute would pay a light penalty upto Rs 200 and be back in business the next day. But after this crackdown, as the same prostitutes are being repeatedly presented in court, the magistrate takes a strict view of their acts,8221; he informed. The Thane city police also conducted meetings with the railway police to ensure a two-pronged and simultaneous approach in tackling the problem.

The police team, including ladies constables, combs the area in civil clothes. Constable Vasanti Shinde alone has been instrumental in detecting more than 60 cases, many of whom were nuisance makers and eve-teasers. The raids have managed to drive away even the hanger-ons, who were a perennial source of trouble for women commuters, making the area around Thane railway station safer.