Madhya Pradesh Police has issued an order under which women involved in sex work and caught during raids on hotels should not be treated as “accused”, and hence should not be arrested or harassed. Copies of the order have also been forwarded to the Superintendents of Police (SPs) of all districts and the Police Commissioners of Bhopal and Indore.
According to an order issued by Madhya Pradesh Director General of Police (Women Safety) Pragya Richa Srivastava, women caught offering sex services during raids on hotels should rather be treated as the victims and the exploited.
“It is often seen that in the crimes registered by some districts under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act 1956, the operators of hotels and dhabas are running the rooms of hotels and dhabas as brothels by taking money. The woman apprehended by the police after the raid is made the accused,” the order noted.
As per the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act 1956, running a brothel is illegal but not the act of prostitution in private.
Referring to an order passed by the Supreme Court in the 2010 Budhadev Karmaskar vs State of West Bengal and others case, DGP Srivastava said that voluntary sex work is not illegal in the case of raids on brothels.
The senior cop further maintained that, as per the law, only running a brothel is illegal and hence the sex worker should not be arrested, punished or harassed.
The Madhya Pradesh Police has, therefore, been instructed to ensure that the guidelines are followed in the offences registered under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act 1956.
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