MUMBAI: The police at Latur in Maharashtra have rescued four minor girls and arrested as many men under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act after raiding a coffee shop.
Raids were conducted yesterday at two coffee shops by `Damini' squads (which probe anti-women crime) under the MIDC and Gandhi Chowk police stations limits, a senior police officer said.
Four minor girls were rescued during a raid at a coffee shop under the MIDC station limits, and three men who had brought them there, and who were caught indulging in indecent behaviour with the girls, were arrested, police said.
"The coffee shop owner was also arrested for helping them...he had made small cubicles where indecent activities were going on. He charged Rs 400 per hour for the cubicle," said Deputy Superintendent of Police, Latur City, Shilvant Dhavale.
"We arrested these four men including the shop owner under sections 8 (sexual assault), 12 (sexual harassment) and 17 (abetment) of POCSO," he said.
The girls were sent home, he said.
In a raid at another coffee shop in Gandhi Chowk area, fifteen persons including nine women were caught while indulging in indecent behaviour, the official said.
"As they all were major, we let them go after warning them and informing their relatives," he said, adding further probe is underway.