HYDERABAD: The 26-year-old Varfolomeyeva Zulfiya, who committed suicide at Prajwala home here, was born in Delhi. She had moved to Uzbekistan with her parents in early childhood. She obtained Uzbekistan nationality and a passport from there.
She had relatives (paternal uncle) in Delhi. When police rescued her, Zulfiya claimed to be working as a fashion designer and was living with her paternal uncle Shameer Khan. However, none of them came to Hyderabad to see her or sought her custody.
Zulfiya used to visit India frequently for her mother’s treatment and had come in February 2017 with a six-month tourist visa. Despite the visa expiring she stayed on. She even got fake voter ID card and Aadhaar card made with the help of her relatives.
During her stay at Delhi, she was lured by one Osman and was forced into flesh trade. She was made to visit Osman’s clients in Delhi, Goa and Bengaluru, until she was taken into custody by one E Jogeshawar Rao, who trafficked women. She was put at Katriya Hotel in Somajiguda to avoid suspicion and whenever Rao found a customer through online advertisements, he used to take her to the customer’s place by charging them between Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh. She, however, was paid just Rs 10,000 per day. Police said that she was pooling money for her mother’s treatment.
After the racket was busted, she was rescued by the Rachakonda SOT and was sent to a rehabilitation home in the city. Responding to a query, Saroornagar inspector N Ch Rangaswamy said, “Her uncle stays in Delhi. None of her family members visited her since the case. Zulfiya claimed to be a frequent visitor to India for her mother’s medical treatment. We verified her claims from her uncle and found them to be true.”
The inspector said after the arrest of Rao and his two associates L Gopal alias Raghunath Reddy and K Gopal alias Harish in Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act, they obtained bail from the court and were out now.