India's first sex toy store in Goa shuts down within a month of opening

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New Delhi: Country’s first legal sex toy and wellness products shop, Kama Gizmos has been closed by the regional panchayat a month after of its opening. 

Kama Gizmos was the first sex toy shop in the state as well as the country. The shop was inaugurated on Valentine’s Day this year and was located in a marketplace in Calangute, a popular tourist destination. 

The regional panchayat reportedly forced the shop to shut down its operations citing lack of a trade license. The sarpanch of the area objected to "such activities".

The action was taken against the sex toy store on Wednesday and it started with removal of its signage. 

The Panchayat said that the shop would not be allowed to run without the trade license, however, Kama Gizmos' partner Prawin Ganeshan said that the local authorities have deeper issues.

Kama Gizmos was a joint venture of two sex product retailers, namely Kamakart and Gizomoswala.

"They were selling sex-related things and we had received complaints from both men and women about it. People had also posted on social media and WhatsApp about the shop. Since it was in a gully everyone had not seen it before. We don’t want to allow such activities," Times Now quoted the Sarpanch saying.

"Our trade license application is under process but we were advised by the people working with the Panchayat that we can open the store and the license would be issued in a few days. On Saturday (March 13), the Panchayat told us not to open the shop for some days so we kept it closed. We were under a lot of pressure from the local authority. Since we are outsiders and not from Goa, we are an easy target," said Ganeshan, CEO of KamaKart.

Additionally, the instagram page of Kama Gizmos has been suspended. 

Times Now also reported Ganeshan saying, "We display no nudity in the store and there is no obscenity." The store outlook was more like a medical store.

"We have encountered no problems in any other city that we have shops in and we will not back down. We are selling completely legal products that are for pleasure and protection. We will restart in Goa within another month. We have conceptualised a sexual wellness store with doctor consultation," he said.