Police free 14 sex trafficking victims

PEKANBARU, Riau: The Mandau Police freed 14 women who were forced to work as sex workers at the Bukit Indah Permai redlight district in Sebangar village, Bengkalis regency, in Riau.
Two bar owners, known as
Sym and Am, who allegedly forced these women into prostitution, have been arrested by the police and named as human-trafficking suspects.
Mandau Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Arif Fajar said the women, two of whom were still underage, came from Bandung regency, West Java.
They had been forced into prostitution for the past two weeks, he added.
Arid said that the sex trafficking case was uncovered after police received information from residents that a number of women were subject to physical abuse and sexual exploitation at the bar.
“The women are also reported to have been heavily indebted to the bar owners and could not leave the place,” Arif told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
“If there’s no problem, they
will be sent home to their parents
in the next two days at the
latest.” — JP