Court allows 15 rescued sex workers to leave reform home

New Delhi, April 13 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Friday allowed the release of 15 sex workers, hailing from Andhra Pradesh, from a reform home here after they were rescued from a red light area in central Delhi.

A division bench of Justice S. Ravindra Bhat and Justice S.P. Garg quashed the order of a Delhi court that allowed Andhra Pradesh Police to take the women with them to their state for investigation.

All the 15 women moved the high court seeking court's intervention expressing their unwillingness to go back to their state.

The court's order came after the national and Delhi commissions for women, which were earlier asked by the court to assist in rehabilitation of these women, informed the court that there it would take some time to formulate the policy.

The court said that these women could not be kept at Nirmal Chhaya home till the formulation of a scheme for their rehabilitation was formulated and directed their release.

Counsel appearing for the women told the court that they were not minors and all of them had been living in the city for more than five years. Their children were also studying here, so they did not want to go back to Andhra Pradesh..

These women were recently rescued during a joint operation of Andhra Pradesh and Delhi Police on the direction of a Hyderabad court.

The Hyderabad court directed police to present these women on the submission of a minor girl who had escaped from the red light area.

The minor girl in her complaint to Andhra Pradesh Police said that other women from Hyderabad were also present in the red light area.

The joint operation led to the rescue of 72 women and all others were allowed to go home except the petitioner 15 women and two minors were handed over to their families.

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