Indonesian women trafficked to Goa spa, massage parlours

PANAJI - Indonesian women are being trafficked into Goa’s dozens of shady massage and spa parlours that dot the tourism-oriented coastline of the state, according to a letter to the state police by the Indonesian embassy.

Police said they are verifying the information passed on to them by the embassy.

“We have received a letter from the Indonesian embassy officials, who have specifically said that 11 Indonesian women were illegally detained in Goa and Mumbai in a spa which has a set-up in both Goa and Mumbai. We are trying to verify the details,” Police Inspector Crime Branch Sunita Sawant told IANS Friday here.

The diplomatic letter, which was received by Goa’s Director General of police Bhimsain Bassi Friday, was forwarded to the Crime Branch for investigation.

Sawant said the spa also had branches in various towns and coastal villages in Goa as well as in Mumbai.

A senior police official said that the girls were stranded in Goa and were made to work under duress, after the owner of the spa chain, whom the police have refused to name yet, confiscated their passports.

The victims had then complained to the Indonesian embassy of the harassment.

The police, however, have not categorically said whether the 11 trafficked women mentioned in the letter have returned to their home country, or are still in Goa.

–Indo Asian News Service