While Prasad's name is in the headlines, the names of the men who paid for sex have been protected

Most of us remember her wearing a schoolgirl's uniform; with her innocent, childish face scrunched up with curiosity. But Shweta Basu Prasad isn't a little girl anymore. She's a 23 year old young woman and, as we've learnt from the news reports, part of a prostitution ring.

On Sunday, the Hyderabad Police raided a hotel in the city's posh neighbourhood of Banjara Hills. Prasad was caught "red-handed". In the news reports that have been circulating since, we've learnt that the man who had effectively been Prasad's pimp was an assistant director named Anjaneyulu, who went by the alias Balu. How much money he charged for Prasad's services has also been written about (Rs 1 lakh).

The shock of realising that the girl in the Makdee poster has grown up and that the film industry does indeed have a seedy and grimy side that glossy tell-all celebrity talk shows never admit to has obscured one detail: Prasad and Balu weren't the only ones to be arrested on Sunday.

Prasad is allegedly part of a high-profile prostitution ring that included in its list of clients "well-known businessmen". While Prasad's name is in the headlines, the names of the men who paid for sex have been protected. The details of what happened to Prasad, from being arrested to now living in a rescue home, have been shared by "police sources". However, there's nothing to be gleaned from any of the news reports about the men who were Prasad's customers.

The sources have disclosed a wealth of detail about Prasad, including a statement by her in which she accepts the charge of prostitution. It's just the kind of salacious detail that is bound to grab our attention because it confirms the abiding popular belief that there's a grimly exploitative side to the film industry that chews and spits up so many of the young hopefuls who enter the arena.

However, prostitution is not an individual sport and it thrives not just because the film industry is a cruel and competitive place, but because there are men -- many of whom have reputations of being moral and beyond reproach -- who make it possible for people like Balu to set up the alternative business that he ran.

The businessmen who were paying Balu for Prasad's company are as complicit as the pimp and the 'prostitute'. After all, their money and appetites keep the flesh trade alive and thriving. If Prasad was caught "red-handed", then there is at least one man who the police know for a fact to be her client. (It gets particularly unsettling when you realise that all the reports mention that "several" men being arrested that night.) Yet not a single report mentions the names or any other detail about these supposedly well-known businessmen.

The difference between Prasad and a successful businessman is the very thing that, according to her statement, forced Prasad into prostitution: money. The wealthy can afford to keep their name out of the papers and remain shadowy silhouettes who stay away from the sticky taint of criminal charges and disrepute. They may have charges pressed against them, they may be guilty, but no one beyond their chosen circle will know of their guilt. In the public domain, where these men deserve to be flayed by public opinion for being the linchpins that hold prostitution rackets together, Prasad is the face of the scandal.

Even though she is the victim in this racket and arrested alongside her were businessmen whose names would probably make for bigger headlines than Prasad's, it's as though Prasad was the only one in the hotel room.