India's resort state battles of sleaze as tourists rise

A surge in prostitution in Goa, a party destination for thousands of overseas visitors, is fuelling the Indian sun-and-sand state's growing reputation for sleaze and corruption. A police raid this month on a bar in Calangute, in the north of the former Portuguese colony, rescued 14 women and girls — including eight from Nepal — and led to the arrest of nine people on sex trafficking charges. State police chief Aditya Arya said further operations were in the pipeline. The golden beaches and laid-back atmosphere of Goa, on India's west coast, attract huge numbers of domestic and foreign tourists, particularly over the Christmas and New Year period. But the state's image has been tainted in recent years by a string of corruption scandals involving police and politicians, as well as drug and sex crime revelations. Non-governmental organisations say prostitution is nothing new in Goa but the problem has mushroomed since a crackdown on so-called "dance bars" up the coast in Mumbai.