10 years on, Thane court acquits woman accused of indulging in flesh trade

Thane, Jun 29 (PTI) A Thane court has acquitted a 57-year-old woman accused in a 2015 case of trafficking women and pushing them into prostitution, giving her the benefit of doubt.

Additional Sessions Judge AS Bhagwat, in the order passed on June 21, held the prosecution failed to prove the charges levelled against the accused, Madhu Arjun Yadav, beyond all reasonable doubts.

A copy of the order was received on Saturday.

The prosecution told the court that officials of the Thane police's anti-human trafficking cell raided an apartment at Savarkar Nagar in Maharashtra's Thane city on February 10, 2015 following a tip-off, and arrested the accused after sending a decoy customer.

The police had also rescued from there three women who were pushed into flesh trade, as per the prosecution.

The accused was booked under Indian Penal Code section 370 (trafficking of persons) and provision of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act.

The judge, however, noted the decoy and the victims (those rescued after the raid) were not examined by the prosecution.

The victims were not traceable and the decoy did not turn up despite summons, the court said.

The case against the accused was pending for the last 10 years, and under these circumstances, there is no proof against her, it observed.

The prosecution failed to examine the remaining witnesses (other than the two panch witnesses) and has not complied with the order of January 31, 2025, asking them to arrange for the witnesses for deposition. Hence, the issue is closed, the court said. PTI COR GK