Recently Geeta Arora alias Sonu Punjaban, who ran Delhi's biggest prostitution ring for around 10 years till 2017, was in the news after she allegedly overdosed on medicines in Tihar Jail after a Delhi Court convicted her and her associate Sandeep Bedwal in the case. The duo received a quantum of punishment on Wednesday. Punjaban received 24 years of rigorous imprisonment and Bedwal received 20 years of rigorous imprisonment.
The two were booked in a case of kidnapping and prostituting a minor girl. The information was shared by Bhisham Singh, IPS, on Twitter on Wednesday.
Last week, Punjaban, who was lodged in Jail Number 6, became drowsy and complained of uneasiness as she had consumed some pills. She was taken to the jail dispensary.
Punjaban belongs to the Rohtak district in Haryana. She was arrested in 2017 when a girl lodged a complaint that Punjaban had beaten her up, drugged her and had forced her into prostitution. The girl was 13 years old at that time. The girl further had stated that she was sold to several people after Punjaban's associate Sandeep Bedwal had kidnapped her in 2009.
Last week a Delhi court noted that the prosecution has proved the charges against the two accused.
Punjaban was back in business in a more organised way after every arrest. She was the kingpin of one of the biggest sex rackets and her clients included high-profile businessmen. The girls that she used to supply were either aspiring models or aspiring actresses, who were escorted by her henchmen to Kolkata, Mumbai, Rajasthan and Punjab.
Reports state that Punjaban had a fascination for gangsters. She had married gangster Hemant Sonu, who was killed in an encounter. She was married to Vijay Singh before that, who was gunned down by UP's STF in Garh Mukteshwar in 2003. Her next boyfriend, Deepak, was shot down as well in Assam.
Bedwal was convicted for kidnapping, rape, selling minor girls for prostitution and criminal conspiracy while Punjaban was convicted for all of the above along with several other crimes and she was also booked in 2011 under charges of stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
