Nearly 40 illegal ladies dance bars operating in North Goa coastal belt, alleges actor who was mobbed by touts

PANAJI: A suburban Mumbai-based theatre artiste and actor has alleged that on a recent visit to the coastal state, she and her friends were mobbed by several touts and pimps in the North Goa coastal belt and continuously harassed all along the Calangute-Candolim road.

Speaking to this reporter, Madhuri Sangita Patil said, “My friends and I were walking along the stretch of road at Baga, Calangute and Candolim (on two different days) during our visit to Goa over the weekend and almost all the time we were mobbed by touts and pimps who offered us everything from women to massage to dance bars at “discounts” and even drugs.”

Madhuri and her friends who reached Goa on Thursday for the St Francis Xavier feast, after attending a religious service decided to take a walk down the Calangute-Candolim road late on Friday evening. The same experience was repeated on Saturday as well, she said, adding that there were hundreds of touts in the area.

“People openly came up to us on the road, asking if we wanted ganja or MD. They promised to give us ‘pure maal‘ On asking around, I found out that there are more than 40-45 illegal ladies dance bars operating in the North Goa coastal belt from Anjuna to Vagator, Arpora to Baga till Candolim and these ladies dance bars employ these touts and pimps offering everything from women to massages and ‘private dance’ at the ladies dance bars,” she said.

Madhuri Sangita Patil derided the local authorities and the police for not being able to stop these illegal dance bars.

“Women are brought in from various parts of India. Goa has become both a source and destination place for illegal trafficking. I will not blame the Goa government, but the local authorities and the local police who take huge bribes to allow these illegal activities, pimping, touting and prostitution as well as sale of drugs openly in the coastal belt,” she said.

Meanwhile, Calangute sarpanch Joseph Sequeira declared a war on illegal dance bars in the area stating that the Calangute Panchayat would rope in the local police to shut down illegal activities in the area. “We have zero tolerance to touting, pimping and illegal dance bars in our jurisdiction,” Sequeira said on Saturday.