Nairobi’s Indian ‘sex slaves’ go underground

By HUDSON GUMBIHI

The Nairobi cartels that traffic young women from Asia to perform erotic dances and engage in prostitution have gone underground after The Nairobian exposed their activities last week.

Our inquiries indicate that some of the women, mainly from India and Nepal, have now been hidden in Mombasa “until things cool down” while others are being prepared for a return back home. Some are yet to be paid their dues, according to our sources, highlighting claims of exploitation in our exposé.

The cartels supposedly bring the women to Nairobi to perform mujra, an erotic Indian dance.

However, the immigrants — most of whom our investigations found did not have work permits but used tourist visas, spoke little or no English, and were locked up in houses throughout the day— were also forced into prostitution. This, according to our sources, was an abuse of an innocent tradition. 

“There has been no mujra in the usual venues since The Nairobian published the story,” a source told us. 

The main venues are in Parklands and Westlands, including one in a building that also has a church. Wealthy Asian men are said to spend between Sh100,000 and Sh500,000 per mujra session. Those interested in sex, pay the pimps extra cash.

The operations involving the cartels, the women and their clients are highly secretive and hard to infiltrate.

But in a fresh twist to the saga, the police and county askaris have been accused of receiving protection money from the powerful cartels that run the mujra show. Some of those behind the trafficking of the women are said to be wealthy businessmen with deep political connections.

But Nairobi police chief Benson Kibue denies the involvement of his officers.