Feature
Shocking: Female students offered sex-for-rent by landlords in this city
London: In a shocking offer that were offered by house owners to female students in which they deals ‘sex-for-rent’ in what sleazy landlords call a ‘win-win situation’ in United Kingdom now days.
Eighteen men living close to one UK university replied to an undercover journalist admitting taking on tenants in exchange for sexual services.
One required a “b***job a day” while another requested “showering with the door open”.
And almost all of them claimed their previous tenants enjoyed the arrangement.
But while the ‘deals’ might seem attractive to vulnerable students struggling to afford rising accommodation fees, police warn it could be illegal.
Claisse Opulencia, editor-in-chief of Canterbury Christ Church University student newspaper, went undercover to search for sex-for-rent landlords in Canterbury, Kent, on the advertisement site Craigslist.
Just minutes after the advert was posted, multiple house owners offered a free room in exchange for sexual favours.
And one Harbledown landlord listed various requirements that his “tenants” would need to provide him.
He said: “A ****job a day, an hour each day you wear what I want around the house (could be underwear, naked or whatever I want).”
The landlord also asked for sex once a week.
Going undercover as ‘Isabelle’, Claisse discovered it was not difficult to find landlords keen to strike a sex-for-rent deal.
One admitted to having properties close to the Canterbury university campuses, University of Kent and Christ Church University.
He said: “I have some [tenants] near Asda, I usually charge £380 (pm).
“But if you’re serious then I’ll let you stay rent free.”
August is the prime time for landlords in Canterbury as students tend to leave the city after graduation.
Another landlord offered a room to ‘Isabelle’ as long as she was ‘willing to give herself’ to him.
He claimed to have previously had a sexual arrangement with a student who recently finished university.
One man responded to say that ‘Isabelle’ could live in his room if she could afford the rent. If not, she had to pay through massages and ‘intimate services’.
Female student exposes sex-for-rent landlords offering undergraduates:
He said: “Two to three times a week and full service (massage). You could tell me what you’re happy to do.
“So two to three times a week, massage and sex.”
One homeowner, called Owen, insisted on calling ‘Isabelle’ as he did not feel comfortable discussing the deal via text.
He claimed to be in his late twenties, and said: “I’ve had one [tenant] before who was an international student, she stayed with me for eight months.
“She’s graduated now. She got what she wanted and so did I.”
He claims he was intimate with her about four to five times a week.
“As long as you kept the place tidy, don’t mind showering with the door open, wearing your underwear around the house, then you get the idea,” he said.
While there is no specific law against a tenant offering sex as payment for rent, it can be classified as incitement into prostitution.
If convicted, a person can face seven years in prison in England and Wales.
Claisse later got in contact with every landlord who had offered her a sex-for-rent deal – but this time as a journalist.
Only one person responded.
He said: “I would never force anyone to do anything they didn’t want to.
“It’s a win-win situation. I’ll help the person out and she can help me out. I have needs too and I don’t see anything wrong with that.”
Kent Police urges people to report any cases of sex-for-rent landlords in the county.
The force promises that landlords who participate in this exchange will be investigated and even prosecuted if a criminal act has been committed.
Detective Chief Inspector Lee Whitehead of Kent Police said: “Landlords who advertise rooms in exchange for sexual favours are actively targeting vulnerable people, and I would urge anyone who is being exploited in this way to please report it to us.
“Organisations including Shelter and Citizens Advice provide support for those struggling to find affordable accommodation, including students living away from home who need not put themselves at risk by responding to such adverts.
“Any incidents reported to Kent Police will be fully investigated to establish if any crimes have been committed, and officers will work with the Crown Prosecution Service to charge offenders and bring them before the courts.”
Entertainment
Meghalaya Reserves Legalized Gambling and Sports Betting for Tourists
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.