Thane: Observing that poverty-stricken families are increasingly falling prey to flesh trade operators who “hunt for teenaged children and young girls to make money”, a Pocso court on Friday sentenced a 40-year-old homemaker from Aarey Colony to 14 years of rigorous imprisonment for pushing two minor girls into prostitution with promises of good money.Ashwini Mukund Birhade was arrested on April 5, 2021, during a police raid at a hotel near the passport office in Wagle Estate, Thane. The operation was conducted using a decoy and authorities found the accused with two minor girls.Special judge D S Deshmukh also imposed a fine of Rs 14,000 on Birhade, which will be distributed equally between the two victims as compensation. The order was made available on Saturday.Special public prosecutor Rekha Hiwrale examined seven witnesses. Birhade faced multiple charges under Pocso Act, Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act, Juvenile Justice Act, and various sections of Indian Penal Code relating to kidnapping and human trafficking.In her testimony, one of the victims, a Class 10 student from an impoverished family, said she was introduced to Birhade through a friend. She said she was in need of money and Birhade convinced her to take up prostitution, saying she could earn well from it. The accused used to take the girls to Thane whenever she got calls.The judge used the case to highlight the broader crisis of violence against women and children in the country. The court noted how “many unfortunate teenaged female children and girls in full bloom are being sold in various parts of the country for petty sums, even by their parents, finding themselves unable to maintain the children on account of poverty, hoping that their children would be engaged only in household duties”. It said that such victims are often deprived of food and confined to rooms for days “until they fulfil the desire of brothel keepers”.
