Society

18 held for forcing protitution in SW China

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-01-06 19:45

GUIYANG: Chinese police have detained 18 people for allegedly forcing women and underage girls into prostitution.

Police also rescued 15 girls, the youngest aged 12, after an investigation lasting almost a month, Fu Yong, an officer with the public security bureau of Kaili City, in Guizhou Province, southwest China, said Wednesday.

A young woman reported to the police on December 9, 2009, that eight men had kidnapped her and four other girls and forced them into prostitution.

Police rescued the four girls and detained seven people.

Members of the gang befriended school-age girls on the Internet, kidnapped them from schools in Guizhou and Guangdong Province, and put them to work, mainly at bath centers, said Fu.

Guizhou and Guangdong police forces rescued 10 girls and detained 10 people in Zhongshan City, Guangdong, and detained another person in the neighboring province of Fujian.

The youngest person detained was just 15 years old, said Fu.

Police were still questioning the suspects.