- By Nidhi Giri
- Wed, 10 Sep 2025 01:31 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
The Kerala High Court has ruled that individuals who avail the services of sex workers in a brothel can be prosecuted under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956. Justice VG Arun observed that by paying for such services, individuals are not merely “customers” but are encouraging and inciting prostitution, thereby contributing to the continued exploitation of sex workers. The Court emphasised that sex workers cannot be treated as "products”.
What Did The Kerala High Court Say?
Justice VG Arun said, “In my view, a person utilising the service of a sex worker at a brothel cannot be termed a customer. To be a customer, a person should buy some goods or services. A sex worker cannot be denigrated as a product.”
“They (sex workers) are lured into the trade through human trafficking and compelled to offer his/her body to satisfy the carnal pleasure of others. Indeed, the pleasure seeker may be paying money, a large chunk of which goes to the keeper of the brothel. The payment, therefore, can only be perceived as an inducement to make the sex worker offer his/her body and act in accordance with the demands of the payer. Thus, a person availing the services of a sex worker in a brothel is actually inducing that sex worker to carry on prostitution by paying money,” he added.
This decision of the Kerala High Court has come in the context of a case in 2021 when the police raided Perokada in Thiruvananthapuram, where they caught two people, including the petitioner, running a brothel. A case was registered against them under sections 3 and 4 of the ITP Act.
The petitioner had appealed against this in the Kerala High Court. However, he did not get any relief from the Court. The court has given orders to register a case under the ITP Act against those visiting the brothel.
