Justice V G Arun observed, “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.”The Kerala High Court has observed that a person utilising the services of a sex worker at a brothel cannot be termed a customer and that a sex worker “cannot be denigrated as a product”.Partially quashing proceedings against a man arrested along with a woman on charges of immoral trafficking, Justice V G Arun observed, “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,” the judge said.The petitioner was arrested in 2021 by the Thiruvananthapuram city police under various sections of the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act. The court quashed the proceedings under sections 3 and 4 of the Act. These sections pertain to keeping a brothel or permitting any premises to be used as a brothel and punishment for living on the earnings of prostitution, respectively. However, the court said he has to face prosecution for offences under sections 5(1)(d) (causing or inducing a person into prostitution) and 7 (prostitution in or near a public place) of the Act. Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:Kerala High CourtThiruvananthapuram