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Sonu Punjaban A.K.A. Geeta Arora is an infamous sex racket kingpin, who operated sex rackets in Delhi and its adjacent States. She is serving a 24-year jail term in connection with a prostitution and human trafficking case.
Wiki/Biography
Sonu Punjaban was born in 1981 (age 39 years; as in 2020), Geeta Colony, Delhi. Sonu studied only till class 7th and left her school.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 4″
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Light Ash Blonde
Family & Caste
Sonu Punjaban was born into a family of Punjabi ethnicity.
Parents & Siblings
Sonu Punjaban’s father, Om Prakash Arora a came to Delhi from Rohtak in search of employment. He used to drive autorickshaw to earn a living. Sonu’s elder sister, Bala is married to Satish, elder brother of Sonu’s first husband, Vijay. She also has two younger brothers, Vijay and who are also a part of Sonu’s sex racket. Vijay and Sanjay were arrested in by the Delhi Police in 2018. They were accused of running sex racket for Sonu Punjaban.
In Picture: Sonu Punjab’s younger brother Vijay and Sanjay
Relationships & Children
Sonu married four men one by one, all four of then were criminals. First, she married Vijay, a carjacker and a gangster in 1996. While she was pregnant with Vijay’s child, he was shot dead in a police encounter in 2004. She gave birth to a son, whom she named Sagar. Thereafter, she married Deepak, a history-sheeter and one of Vijay’s friends who too was killed in an encounter by the police in Guwahati. After Deepak’s death, his younger brother Hemant, alias Sonu held her hand, however, he was also shot dead in a police encounter in 2006. After this, she married Hemant’s friend Ashok alias Bunty. Bunty, like all others, ended up getting killed in a police encounter.
The Journey of Becoming a Sex Racketeer
The journey of an ordinary girl climbing the ladder of flesh trade is quite dramatic. After leaving school, Sonu started working at a beauty parlour. Reportedly, after her father’s death, one of her colleagues named Neetu lured her into prostitution for easy money and thereafter she never looked back. She entered the dark field of flesh trade as a sex worker and once she got hang of the business and had made her own clients, she set up her own brothel and became a pimp. With the passage of time, Sonu’s empire continued to grow in Delhi and several other states. She had set dozens of brothels in different parts of Delhi and in its adjacent states. Sonu Punjaban used to run sex racket in a quite organised manner, wherein people who worked for her were responsible for bringing girls into the business by hook or by crook, thereafter finding clients and supplying the girls to them.
Controversies
- In 2007, she was arrested under sections of the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act.
- In 2008, she was arrested for the same offence.
- In 2011, Delhi Police nabbed her after she was again spotted indulging in prostitution. The same year, she was also charged with MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, 1999).
- In December 2017, she was arrested under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POSCO).
A sentence of 24 years
After staying away for a long time from the shackles of law, it is for the first time, Sonu Punjaban has been found guilty in a case. On 22 July 2020, she was sentenced to 24 years imprisonment for immoral trafficking of a 12-year old girl by Delhi’s Dwarka court. While pronouncing the judgment, Additional Sessions Judge Pritam Singh said,
“The convict Geeta Arora alias Sonu Punjaban shall first undergo 14 years rigorous imprisonment for her offence under sections of Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, thereafter to undergo 10 years rigorous imprisonment for offences under sections 366A (procuration of minor girl), 372 (selling minor for purpose of prostitution), 373 (buying minor for purpose of prostitution), 328 (causing hurt by means of poison), 342 (wrongful confinement), 120B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC. Hence, the convict shall remain in custody (jail) for a total of 24 years as a substantive sentence.” While pronouncing the sentence, the court noted, Convict Geeta Arora alias Sonu Punjaban crossed all the limits to be called a woman and deserves the severest punishment provided under the law.”
Facts/Trivia
- Her father, Om Prakash Arora was a Pakistan Refugee who settled in Rohtak, Haryana after Partition.
- Sonu has had a fascination with bad men from a young age. Her lovers have always been history-sheeters.
- Reportedly, Sonu Punjaban had accumulated property worth Rs 100 crore
- She used to train the girls in speaking English and high-class etiquettes for clients.
- Bollywood actress Richa Chadda‘s role in the films “Fukrey” and “Fukrey Returns” was inspired by Bholi Punjaban. She is the real-life Bholi Punjaban.
- It is said, her father named her Geeta as she was born in Geeta colony in Delhi.
- She began to rise as a leading figure in the business of prostitution and human trafficking after her rivals, Baba Bhimanand and Nagma Khan were arrested in 2005.
- It is believed that Sonu Punjaban originally Geeta Arora, took Sonu from the name of her third husband, Hemant Sonu, and renamed herself as Sonu Punjaban. ‘Sonu’, because of Sonu Hemant and ‘Punjaban’ because of her surname, Arora.
- It is alleged, that Sonu Punjaban had tipped the police about all four of her partners who got killed in encounters.
- Sonu is said to have close connections with the underworld.
- A report by India Today says, “She (Punjaban) forcibly administered drugs to the victim so that she could not resist a customer (man), who would sexually exploit her. She applied chilli powder on the breast of the victim and also put it into her mouth in order to create fear in her mind that she should act as per her wishes otherwise be ready to face brutality.”
- Sonu has tried to commit suicide in jail a couple of times. In July 2020, she tried to commit suicide by consuming pills meant for treating headache.