Kochi spa raid: women say no one exploited them, but the High Court keeps the brothel case alive and sends customers to trial
Kochi police raided an Ayurvedic spa on 24 December 2024 and charged its alleged operators with trafficking and brothel offences, and four men found there as customers. The women named as exploited told a magistrate they had not engaged in sex work, and filed affidavits saying no one had exploited them. On 23 September 2026 the Kerala High Court dropped the trafficking charges against the customers but ordered them tried under the brothel law, and kept every charge against the operators.
This page records what the cited court records say happened. Findings belong to the court or authority that made them; this register adds none of its own. Names of private individuals are withheld unless a naming gate clears them.
How we verify →Proceedings continue in C.P. No. 20/2025 before the Ernakulam magistrate: accused 1 and 3 on all charges, accused 4 to 7 under Sections 5 and 7 of the ITP Act.
What happened
The High Court recorded the prosecution case that accused 1 to 3 recruited and harboured women at an Ayurvedic spa centre in Kochi for sexual activities, and that accused 4 to 7 were found engaged in sexual intercourse with four women when police raided on 24.12.2024 on a tip-off.
Seven of the women gave statements to the magistrate under Section 164 CrPC that they had not engaged in sexual activity or knew of none at the premises, and filed affidavits in the High Court that they had not been sexually exploited and had no objection to quashing.
Justice Jobin Sebastian held that the women's recantation does not end the case, because the offences concern a special law enacted in the public interest and independent and official witnesses are available.
The court quashed the Section 143 BNS (trafficking) and Sections 4 and 6 ITP Act charges against accused 4 to 7 as customers, directed that they be tried under Sections 5 and 7 of the ITP Act following a Division Bench ruling that a brothel customer can be prosecuted under Section 5, and left all charges against accused 1 and 3 standing.
What the High Court held
“the mere fact that the women who were allegedly subjected to sexual exploitation do not presently have any grievance against the accused cannot, by itself, constitute sufficient justification for quashing the proceedings”
Crl.M.C. No. 5824 of 2026, order dated 23 September 2026, para 13 — read the full text
No complainant, and the women say no victim
Every woman named as exploited has told a magistrate and the High Court that she was not. The customers' prosecution rests on paying for sex at the premises, not on harm to anyone.
What we could not confirm
The prosecution alleges trafficking and exploitation by the operators, which the High Court left for trial; the women's recantations have not been tested in evidence. The order makes no finding on guilt. LiveLaw reported the order on 3 October 2026; the order itself is dated 23 September 2026. Names are withheld.