HIV infected work as 'masseuse' at sex havens of Kovalam

 Asianet News investigation on thriving sex tourism under the cover of massage parlours at Kovalam has exposed a shocking truth- availing sex services at these centres can be a ticket to the HIV-AIDS club. 

A woman working at a massage parlour at Kovalam that allegedly provided sex workers to its clients told Asianet News that her co-worker is  HIV infected and continue to impart sex service. "She was doing the same job in Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore and was detected HIV positive almost ten years ago. She is continuing at the centre even now," she said. 

The parlour  recruit women as masseuses and later force them to sexually entertain customers. Some of the workers are trapped while some are threatened by the proprietors. These women are kept in a separate place near to the parlour, and the clients are given the option to choose the masseuse by providing an extra payment. 

A minimum of 20 customers visit the parlour daily and on weekends, the number can go up to 50, including foreigners. 

 The police and Health Department officials are turning a blind eye for they are getting their share without delay. The proprietors have also appointed persons to keep a watch on the police and to bribe them whenever needed, a previous employee of a spa told Asianet News. 

"I was appointed as a driver. Soon they issued a massage therapist certificate to me. They give a similar fake certificates to all the male and female staff here," he said. 

People operating such massage parlours are so powerful that a police officer who conducted a raid at an infamous massage parlour in Kovalam was transferred within a few days.