Maharashtra: Man booked for pushing wife into flesh trade

Palghar: Police have booked a 30-year-old man from Nalla Sopara area in the district for allegedly forcing his wife into flesh trade and torturing her by burning her with cigarette butts.
The 33-year-old victim filed a complaint with the Waliv police in Vasai division of Palghar yesterday.

The woman said in her complaint that she came to Palghar in 2012 after divorcing her first husband and leaving her two children with her mother in Uttar Pradesh, a police officer said.
She became friends with the accused while working at a company in Nalla Sopara.

In 2013, the accused allegedly raped her while promising to marry her and forced her into flesh trade. He later married the woman and started demanding money from her earnings, he said.

When she refused to give him the money, he allegedly burnt her with cigarette butts and also beat her up. He also threatened to kill her two children in UP, the officer said.

Based on her complaint, the police booked the man under IPC sections 376 (rape), 366 (kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel her for marriage), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 504 and 506 (criminal intimidation) and also relevant provisions of The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act.

A search has been launched to nab the accused, police added.