Police swoops on well-patronised brothel

by Ananda Agalakada

Eight ‘twilight’ women were arrested by the Organised Crime and Anti Vice Division, (OCAD) Colombo in Colpetty recently. The OIC of the OCAD K.A.B. Abeyratne, IP Dinesh Attanayake and other officers under the instructions of the Director, SSP T. Ganeshanaden swooped down on a well-patronised brothel and karoake parlour which led to the arrest of sex workers.

The raid is not the first of its kind. Many such raids have been carried out in and around Colombo in the recent past, police sources said. In Sri Lanka, prostitution is illegal. However, many social factors have led to this illegal trade flourishing on the sly in many parts of the country.

On the one hand, poverty is one of the reasons and on the other, illiteracy has also driven these women into this profession. Racketeers in a bid to earn a quick buck has led to this unfortunate situation. The latest raid was reported in Colpetty in a so-called massage parlour and karoake bar owned by a top businessman.

Experienced police officers raided the massage parlour and arrested eight beautiful well-built women. In the wee hours, they were preparing to practise their trade where police swooped down on them.

On a tip off a policeman acting as a decoy was sent to the brothel posing off as a customer. After paying Rs 4,000, the officer in disguise was allowed to enter the premises. He was then asked to select a prostitute of his choice after paying another large sum of money. The policeman found that women from different nationalities including Thai, Chinese, in addition to local women were the sex workers.

All the women were attractive and young within the age of about 25 to 36. Two of them were married and were employed as sex workers surreptitiously without the knowledge of their husbands. It was later disclosed that the local women were from Seeduwa, Wadduwa, Wariyapola and Moronthuduwa.The brothel was run in a methodical manner, with prostitutes operating on a roster basis. About 16 women were said to be involved daily in the trade. They seemed to have indulged in their profession without any compulsion.

”The existence of these brothels by and large has a negative impact on society in many ways. On the one hand it has an adverse effect on morals and ethics and also could spread of deadly diseases such as HIV and AIDS” a police source warned.

A resident living in close proximity to the massage parlour speaking to the Observer said he always saw new vehicles parked close to the massage parlour and suspected that there was something underhand going on, as it operated round the clock. He said however no one was allowed to approach the location and only regular customers had access to the so-called massage parlour.

“One can say that the law in the country is not enough to minimise such wrongdoing. If the public is not concerned it is not possible to prevent this unhealthy situation. If people co-operate with the police it would help bring down the ever increasing rate of social crimes”, a police source said.