CHENNAI: The city police arrested six persons, including the mother of a 16-year-old girl, under the Pocso Act for allegedly pushing her into sex work after the mother failed to repay a loan of Rs 40,000 she took from a woman moneylender in Pulianthope.
The girl, a school dropout, filed a complaint with the MKB Nagar All Women Police Station (AWPS) last week after which the officials conducted inquiries.
The girl's mother had taken a loan from Muthulakshmi, a moneylender, a couple of years ago. As she could not repay the money, she sent her daughter to work as a domestic help at Muthulakshmi's house.
Over a period of time, Muthulakshmi allegedly forced the minor girl into sex work. Objecting to this, the girl fought with her and fled the house, and came back to live with her mother. However, her mother allegedly asked the girl to go back to Muthulakshmi's house, after which the girl fled the house and started living with her boyfriend.
Her mother kept on pestering her over the phone, irate over which the girl filed a complaint with MKB Nagar AWPS. After investigations, the police arrested six persons, including Muthulakshmi and her husband, Nishanth, and their relatives, Ajith (22), Sanjay (22), Mageshwaran, and the girl's mother under relevant sections of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act.
All the accused were produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody.