Won't let Delhi become Bangkok, will ensure sex rackets in spa parlors shut down: DCW chief

Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) Chairperson, Swati Maliwal on Wednesday said that her orgsation will not allow sex rackets to function under the garb of spa parlors and will ensure the guilty are punished.

"DCW will ensure all the spa parlors where illegal work is going on will close, all the people who are operating and supporting the sex rackets will be dealt with strictly, we will not allow New Delhi to become Bangkok," Maliwal told here.

Alleging that the illicit and immoral trade has been going on in Delhi region for the past many years, she said, "DCW has been busting the sex rackets which were operating in the region in the last few days, we registered cases at many stations related to this and also summoned Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and police officials who agreed that illegal activities were going on under the garb of massage centres."

Maliwal further went on to allege that while DCW had been focused on ending this trade and some leaders from the state had proclaimed they would ensure the closure of such centres in Delhi, some politicians from the BJP were siding with the spa owners.

"After these findings, the Mayor of South MCD had given a statement that she will issue an advisory banning all such massage centres in her jurisdiction. However, many reports today claim that many top BJP leaders from Delhi had contacted her and urged her to not take any action against them," Maliwal alleged.

"We want to know the names of those leaders who are standing up for these massage parlors. We will not stop and will not leave anybody who tries to help them. Who are these leaders, their names should come out," she said.

Earlier yesterday, Maliwal had said that the police and the municipal corporations have a lot to answer in the way in which the spa centres were being run in Delhi and alleged they were turning a blind eye to illegal activities.

She said efforts of the commission had led to busting of huge sex rackets.

A DCW release said that Delhi Commission for Women had summoned senior Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and police officials on September 9 and had directed them to ensure that sex rackets in spas be immediately closed down.

"We are doing the work which MCD and police should be doing. Why were these spa centres allowed to mushroom in the first place? Why was MCD sleeping for so many years? Why cross-gender massages are behind closed doors? Why no No Objection Certificate (NOCs) are obtained from police before running these spas? How much money has MCD and police earned by turning a blind eye to these illegal activities? They have a lot to answer," Maliwal said.

( With inputs from ANI )