A 37-year-old woman and six of her colleagues have been apprehended by Chennai police’s anti-vice team on charges of pushing schoolgirls, all of her daughter’s friends from middle and lower-middle-class backgrounds into prostitution. The police recovered two teens from the criminal group.
City police obtained a tip about a network of prostitutes including schoolgirls. On Saturday (18th May) night, a team led by Assistant Commissioner of Police Rajalakshmi and Inspector Selvarani searched a city lodge and recovered the two girls, aged 18 and 17.
Police said the primary culprit in the case, K Nadhiya, 37, targeted her daughter’s classmates at a local school. According to police sources, she became familiar with the girls on the idea of teaching them dance classes and beautician training, suggesting it would help them earn money part-time.
According to authorities, Nadhiya gradually picked her targets and enticed them with cash payments ranging from Rs 25,000 to 35,000. According to investigators, the accused also taught the girls to make up stories in their houses whenever they had to spend the night or go to other towns with her clients. Preliminary investigations found that some of the accused’s clients had taken the girls to Hyderabad and Delhi.
“Nadhiya’s clients had taken the girls to Hyderabad and Delhi. If some girls resisted after some time, she threatened them saying the videos of the girls with the clients would be sent to their parents. She chose the clients through social media handles, contacted them personally, and fixed the deals,” the police said.
“Some of the clients were elderly men from Hyderabad and Coimbatore who preferred schoolgirls and were ready to pay more,” they added.
Along with Nadhiya, police arrested Ramachandra, 42, Sumathi, 43, Maya Oli, 29, Jayashree, 43, and Ramandran, 70, all from different sections of Chennai, as well as Ashok Kumar, 31, of Coimbatore. Police took seven cell phones and a car from the accused.
The accused were brought before a magistrate and remanded in judicial detention. Officials from the District Child Protection Unit (south), Child Line, and the Child Welfare Committee (south) are assisting in counseling the victims.
