Panaji: The Bombay high court upheld the order of the lower court directing charges to be framed against Mahendra Salgaonkar under the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act.An FIR was registered in 2014 alleging that Salgaonkar, along with three others, ran a massage parlour at Mapusa and employed girls to carry out prostitution.The police registered the FIR after a decoy customer was sent to the spa. They found that the spa was not registered and did not have a licence from the directorate of health services and pollution control board.Salgaonkar’s advocate said the statements of the girls did not disclose that they were exploited or procured to carry on prostitution, and stated that there was nothing on record to show that prostitution was carried out. The court observed that the statements of the victims were more or less stereotypical in nature. They said that, at the spa, there were only female masseurs who gave massage to male clients. The court said that, when juxtaposed with the statements of the complainant and the decoy customer, there was prima facie material to show that one of the victim girls accepted an additional amount for massage and agreed to provide extra/special massage.The court stated there was prima facie material in the complaint to frame the charge against him
