Morung Express News
Dimapur | October 19
In a complete turn of events, the owners of the Goa beauty parlour from where six Naga girls were ‘rescued’ last week are moving the high court appealing for inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the case. The owner of ‘Lotus’ beauty parlour, which is a branch of India’s leading herbal cosmetics brand, has decided to move court after being subject to public humiliation and ‘false accusation’ by various government, non-government agencies and individuals. The owners have been accused of forcing the girls into prostitution in the garb of running a beauty parlour.
Speaking to The Morung Express from Goa, Harish Mishra, co-owner of Lotus beauty parlour, narrated details of the events which took place upon his arrival at Dimapur on September 19, 2010. Mishra said he came to Dimapur to recruit Naga girls for training for the beauty parlour in Goa with a Naga friend/neighbor who works as assistant manager in a cruise liner. He stayed at Hotel Saramati and placed advertisements in local newspapers. On September 21, 2010, Mishra said he was summoned by Dimapur police for verification of his documents at the ‘police station close to Hotel Saramati.’ He said the police verified his documents; expressed satisfaction and made inquiries about him from the Goa police. Mishra said he went ahead with the interviews only after permission from the police and the candidates’ guardians. 20 girls appeared for the interview of which six were selected, he said. He left with the girls for Goa on September 27, 2010.
On reaching Goa, Mishra said the girls were kept in accommodation close to the parlour. The Naga girls began training a day after they landed in Goa. However, the unfortunate incident occurred due to some girls from Mizoram who were also training in the same parlour. Mishra explained that while the Naga girls were taking keen interest in the training, the Mizo girls were not sincere and only interested in late-night parties and drinking. This started affecting their training schedules, he said.
It eventually led to altercation between the trainers and the Mizo girls. The girls were then asked to leave training. Mishra said the Mizo girls left the parlour and returned after three days with Goa police and some social workers. The police without a warrant started raiding the parlour but found nothing. The Naga girls, whom he described as ‘innocent’, were whisked away by the police. The girls had only trained for four days when the incident occurred. When his wife went to check on the Naga girl at the police station, she was detained without warrant, he said.
Mishra expressed dissatisfaction about the manner in which the media has been portraying the one-sided story. He said there are CCTV cameras in all rooms inside the parlour which is ample proof to show their innocence. “Anybody can run the tapes through to see if we were running a parlour or something else,” he said. Mishra said a medical examination was not even initiated or conducted to establish claims of forced prostitution made by the Mizo girls. He said the parlour has been running for six years and many North East girls trained there earlier are now working with reputed brands like L’Oreal and VLCC.
After all that has happened, Mishra maintained he is still in touch with the guardians of the Naga girls and has tried to present the real picture to them. Mishra added he would like to reiterate through the media that “the girls have not indulged in any kind of illegal activity…they are very innocent.”
