NEW DELHI: The Delhi Commission for Women on Thursday submitted a report to Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal recommending closure of prostitution rackets in spa and massage parlours in Delhi.
The report submitted to the L-G’s office, DCW said, highlights the fact that the authorities have allowed the red light area to expand to hundreds of locations in the city by allowing unchecked mushrooming of spa and massage centres.
“It is observed by the Commission that while police in NCR towns — Ghaziabad, Gurgaon, Noida — and cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru and others have been actively acting against prostitution rackets operating in spa centres, Delhi Police is completely silent on the matter,” DCW chief Swati Maliwal said in a statement.
Following the intervention of the Commission, five FIRs have been registered against spa centres in Delhi.
“There have been no arrests so far. This has emboldened the spa owners, who are repeatedly threatening the officials and chairperson of the Commission, but even then Delhi Police has not filed any FIR upon the complaint of the Commission. There appears to be a deep-rooted nexus of the spa owners with vested interests within the system, including municipal corporations, Delhi Police and other authorities” Maliwal alleged.
The report observes that some owners of spas have gone to court against the work of the Commission in acting against the sex rackets operating in spa centres. “One of the petitioners is a politician from a leading national political party,” Maliwal claimed.
According to DCW, there are 399 licensed spas in Delhi. “On the contrary, Justdial has informed that there are over 5,000 spa and massage centres registered with it in Delhi. Justdial.com’s revelation raises concerns that thousands of spas are operating illegally in the capital,” the DCW said.