Shocking details of an organised sex work racket in Karnataka have emerged, after a 20-year-old woman managed to escape from its shackles.
Rachita*, in a letter to the NGO Odanadi Samsthe, has alleged that police officers and two Sandalwood actors were involved in the racket.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Central Crime Branch sleuths raided ‘Like Trend Family Salon’ located on Bogadi Ring Road on the outskirts of Mysuru, after the NGO tipped them off.
CCB sleuths have now arrested the owner of the massage parlour, Rajesh, and his wife Indira alias Jinke, and booked them on charges of running a brothel.
“The woman said that Rajesh had raped her and recorded a video of it. He used it to threaten the woman. In her statement, she has said that she was forced to have sexual relations with clients and has also named two Sandalwood actors. She said that a few police officers were also involved. She will be produced before the court today,” an officer with the CCB told TNM.
Rachita’s letter to the NGO states, “Rajesh and Indira have known these actors for a long time. The actors would also take their share of money from the sex racket.”
How did Rachita end up in the sex racket?
Rachita is a resident of a village in Srirangapattana taluk. In her letter to Odanadi Samsthe, Rachita writes, “As I had no parents, I was brought up by my grandmother, aunts and uncles. I used to live with my grandmother and worked at a cosmetic store in the village. But this changed when I was married off to a man named Venkatesh from Bengaluru.”
Rachita says that her drunk husband would physically and mentally abuse her, after which, her aunts brought her back to live with her grandmother. A few months ago, Rachita’s grandmother passed away.
“I had no source of income and I needed to fend for myself. I knew Indira, who had visited me in my village. She offered me a job at a beauty parlour in Mysuru. She had given me a mobile number. When I called, a man named Rajesh picked up and told me to meet him at the Mysuru bus stand,” Rachita’s letter states.
On November 5, Rachita went to Mysuru, where she met Rajesh. The duo then drove down to the Like Trend Family Saloon.
Rachita, who was expecting the job of a beautician, was shocked when Rajesh told her that she was going to be working at the massage parlour.
“On day one, a man came for a massage. I had not signed up for being a masseuse but Rajesh had taught me the work. I was shocked when the man touched me inappropriately. When I went and complained to Rajesh, he told me to go along and do whatever the client wanted. He also locked the door from outside so I could not escape. The man then sexually assaulted me,” Rachita writes in the letter.
Helpless and dejected, Rachita tried to escape, but Rajesh and Indira never let her out of their sight, she alleges. However, Rachita somehow managed to write to her friend and narrate her ordeal.
“My friend called Rajesh and told him that my grandmother had passed away. Both Indira and Rajesh did not know that my grandmother had died before I came to Mysuru. Rajesh let me visit my village and I managed to get out of there,” Rachita states.
*Name changed