PARBATI DASI Vs. EMPEROR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an appeal against the conviction of one Parbati Dassi who was sentenced to one year's rigorous imprisonment by the Chief Presidency Magistrate of Calcutta for an offence under Section 8, Calcutta Suppression of Immoral Traffic Act, XIII of 1923. It appears that Parbati Dassi is the mother of a girl named Lakshi. They came together from Rangoon to Calcutta arriving in this city on July 12, 1932. The prosecution was the outcome of certain investigations made by the Police in consequence of an anonymous letter received by them in which it was stated that there was a girl named Lakshi aged about 13, living with her mother Parbati and carrying on the business of prostitution at a house No. 219, Bow Bazar Street. On receipt of that letter which was addressed to the Deputy Commissioner of the Detective Department of the Calcutta Police and dated August 3, 1932, an Inspector proceeded to No. 219, Bow Bazar Street, which is a three storeyed building at about 3 P.M. on the afternoon of August 3 last. That house appears to be occupied by a certain number of women who are prostitutes but there also reside a number of perfectly respectable and ordinary people. The Inspector proceeded to a room on the first floor of the house and found the door bolted from inside. As soon as he knocked at the door he heard sounds as if somebody jumping out of a window from inside the room. After an interval of two or three minutes the door was opened by the present accused Parbati Dassi, and a man named Nabin Chandra Sarma was also discovered inside the room. Parbati when questioned as to the whereabouts of her daughter Lakshi, replied that she had sent her to a friend. The Inspector immediately afterwards got information from a man Gour Mohan Seal that some one jumped out of the window of a room on the first floor of the house. The Inspector then traced the girl to an adjoining Basti and took charge of her and had her brought to the Police Office. She was later medically examined and according to the report of the Police Surgeon it was found that she was probably between 16 and 17 years in age, but might have been somewhat older.

(2.) After further investigation the mother Parbati Dassi was put up for trial upon a charge of having brought her daughter, the girl Lakshi, to Calcutta from Rangoon with a view to her carrying on the business of a prostitute. The defence set up by Parbati was that her daughter was of some repute as a musical artist and that she had come to Calcutta for the purpose of getting employment, she having previously had various engagements in Rangoon. The accused woman put in a written statement which formulated her defence as follows. I am innocent of the charge against me. Miss Shorabjee, the former proprietress of the Pearl Talkies, Calcutta who is also interested in several of them in Rangoon informed my daughter Lakshi at Rangoon that she had arranged a good job for her in the New Pearl Talkies at Dharamtolla Street Calcutta. My daughter came down to Calcutta in July last 1 accompanied her. She entered into a contract of service with the aforesaid Cinema Company from July 16, 1932 and since then she has been giving performances as a dancer and songstress in different cinemas in Calcutta I did not bring her to Calcutta for the purpose of prostitution or for any other immoral purposes. She was already an artist of renown in Rangoon having had connections with several local shows and she has also established her reputation in Calcutta, it is absolutely untrue that the two prosecution witnesses, Sudhir and Gopal, ever came to visit her at 219, Bow Bazar Street or that I ever introduced them to my daughter. She is nineteen and has attained majority.

(3.) The reference to the two prosecution witnesses in this written statement relates to the evidence given by the two young men mentioned, which was to the effect that they had sexual intercourse with this girl for a monetary consideration. Now it is clear that the girl after her arrival in Calcutta did succeed in obtaining a succession of professional engagements. It was stated in the written statement as we have seen that Lakshi had some kind of recommendation or at any rate was acting upon a suggestion from a Miss Shorabjee who was a former proprietress of the New Pearl Cinema in this city. The girl Lakshi was in fact given an engagement by the New Pearl Talkies Cinema to give performances as a dancer and singer from July 16 to July 23, 1932, that is to say a week's engagement for which she drew a salary of Rs. 125. That seems to indicate that the girl must be an artist of some merit. Then from September 3 to September 7, she had another engagement with the same Cinema. From September 19, till the 23 she had an engagement at a Cinema known as the Ruby Cinema and for that five days engagement she was paid Rs. 75. Then on October 1, under a contract in writing made a day or two before, she commenced an engagement which in the first instance was to last until the end of the year 1932 at a salary of Rs. 300 a month. Having regard to these facts it seems to me tolerably clear and indeed beyond doubt that this girl Lakshi was a skilled and attractive performer as a singer and dancer who had already made good in her profession. The fact that she obtained an engagement so soon after her arrival in this city and the fact that she was receiving a salary of Rs. 300 a month, would as I have said indicate that she must be an artist of some merit.