Thane court acquits three persons booked for trafficking woman

PTI, Oct 18, 2024, 3:47 PM IST

A court in Maharashtra’s Thane district acquitted three persons accused of forcing a woman into prostitution, citing deficiencies in the prosecution’s case.

Special judge D S Deshmukh passed the order on September 30 and acquitted the accused booked under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO).

As per the case details, Saumyajit Narendra Singh (35), Najma Saumyajit Singh (39), and Ismail Rashidali Mandal (46) were involved in forcing a woman into prostitution, and a case was registered against them following a raid in September 2014.

In his observations, Judge Deshmukh stated, “The prosecution’s story that the accused sent the victim into prostitution appears to be concocted. The victim herself admitted that she did not know her age at the time and testified inconsistently about whether she was sent for illegal work.” He pointed out that the victim’s testimony lacked reliability.

The court concluded that the prosecution had failed to demonstrate that the accused had induced the victim to engage in prostitution or that they profited from her exploitation and acquitted the trio.