Woman forced into prostitution dies, spa manager injured while climbing down drainage pipe during police raid in Pune

PUNE: A 30-year-old woman allegedly forced into prostitution at a spa died, while its manager (40) suffered injuries after the two attempted to escape from the first-floor facility in a commercial building at Vimannagar, off Pune-Nagar Road, during a police raid around 3.30pm on Monday.

Deputy commissioner of police (Zone VII) Somay Munde said a team from the Airport police station had gone to the first-floor spa following a tip-off about illegal activities. "It is a large spa with several rooms. Four people were inside when the police knocked and identified themselves," he said.


Munde said instead of opening the door, the woman and the spa manager bolted it from inside. "The woman, the spa manager and another person then went to the balcony. The woman and the manager then decided to flee by climbing down a drainage pipe from the balcony. The manager started descending first, and the woman, who hails from West Bengal, followed him. The pipe, however, gave way under their combined weight causing both to fell into the parking area of the commercial building," Munde said.

"The manager suffered fractures to his legs, while the woman suffered severe head injuries after landing on her head. The police team rushed to the parking area and shifted the injured to a nearby hospital, where the woman was declared dead," he said.

"The deceased was a victim of a flesh trade racket. Another victim was also found at the spa," Munde said, adding, "The spa had been operational for the past few months, and the police had received a tip-off about the illegal activities. It had never been raided before."