Mumbai: Police conduct raids, harass couples from hotels near Aksa beach

On Thursday afternoon, the Malvani police conducted raids and caught around 50 people from the hotels near the Aksa beach area, according to Mid Day. The police conducted the raid to crack down on 'prostitution' based on information received by an informer. After the police's investigation, the police found several of them did not have proper IDs and hadn't made correct entries in the hotel entry book.

The couples were fined Rs 1200 and three women were booked under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act or PITA Act. Some couples complained that even though they had proper documents, the police fined them. Some couples claimed that the police held them at the police station till 10 pm, and even asked some of them to call up their parents. Some of the couples were charged with 'indecent behaviour in public' even though they were in private rooms.

According to a report in Mid Day, one of the girls was reportedly slapped by a female constable for daring to protest against the action, while another woman said that she was contemplating suicide. One of the youngsters caught in the raid alleged to Mid Day: “The police first insulted all of us in front of all the officers and the other couples and then forced us to call our parents and insulted and disgraced us in front of them. They also made the parents feel guilty as if their children had committed some heinous crime.”

Quite ironically, while the incident was taking place, a thief robbed a woman of a gold chain opposite the Malwani police station.  

With inputs by Nitesh R Dubey of Team I am In