Manthan K Mehta | TNN (Article from Times of India - (11/7/2010)
Mumbai: People residing near the station in Ghatkopar (W) are a harried lot.Lanes adjoining the station as well as the Ramniranjan Jhunjhunwala College have long been infamous for prostitutes.
Mumbai: People residing near the station in Ghatkopar (W) are a harried lot.Lanes adjoining the station as well as the Ramniranjan Jhunjhunwala College have long been infamous for prostitutes.
Now,to add to the residents woes, sex workers emboldened by lack of police action have turned to robbing vulnerable passers-by.
Prostitutes have become bolder.They accost pedestrians and force them to part with their belongings, Ketan Solanki,a social worker,said.
Following a spate of such incidents,Solanki joined forces with a bunch of people to gather evidence against the sex workers.We complained to the police and confronted them with evidence in the form of video recordings.But the police are yet to take action, said Solanki.
They mostly target unknown faces to avoid confrontation with the locals, Solanki said.
Pune-resident Satish Jadhav (name changed) had a bitter experience during his visit to the area in April.I was on my way to a relatives place when some prostitutes forcibly took away Rs 3,000 from me, said Jadhav.
Some of the victims managed to get back their valuables,but only after locals intervened.Nitin Kamte,a resident of the area,said,In many cases,the prostitutes returned some,if not all,of the cash they had taken from the victim.However,they are reluctant to hand over the money in front of the police.
Amit Kulkarni (name changed),a marketing executive,said,The prostitutes took away a US$ 5 note from my wallet.When locals confronted the sex workers,they returned the money.
Solanki claimed that the sex workers even assault those who refuse to part with their belongings.
RM Vhatkar,DCP (zone VII),said,The residents can contact me if their complaint is not being registered by the local police.
