Employed as bartenders but forced to perform the lap dance, 33 women were rescued from a pub in central Bengaluru on the intervening of July 25 and 26, police said.
Disguised as customers, sleuths from the CCB and the Silver Jubilee Park police station went to Lover’s Night, a pub, bar and restaurant on NR Road near KR Market. They found scantily-clad women performing the lap dance on customers. A lap dance is a type of erotic dance performance in which the dancer has body contact with a seated patron. Customers were too eager to shower money on the women. The police officers then alerted their seniors. The pub was later raided and 33 women were rescued. The women who hail from neighbouring states have been sent to the state-run rehabilitation centre.
Police said the women were originally hired as bartenders but were eventually asked to dance before patrons so that they could “earn” more. The women would get a small share in the money showered on them while the pub owner would keep the most of it, a senior police officer said.
Police have sealed the pub for violating the licensing conditions and are making efforts to track down the owner and the manager who escaped during the raid. Police arrested 30 patrons and seized Rs 1.2 lakh in cash from them.