Turkish prosecutors have demanded jail sentences of up to 177 years for 29 people in the south-east province of Adana suspected of setting up swingers’ clubs, according to local media reports.

Police arrested 53 people in May on suspicion of pimping and prostitution in raids on 25 addresses in five provinces across south and south-east Turkey, after receiving reports that patrons of swingers’ clubs were bringing prostitutes to the sex parties.

Of the 53 people taken in for questioning, 29 were charged, with 15 of them placed under arrest and the others released pending trial.

The suspects are facing jail terms ranging from three to 177 years each for “setting up a criminal organisation with the aim of engaging in criminal activity”, “prostitution”, “human trafficking” and “obscenity”, Doğan news agency reported.

Doğan said the alleged ringleaders – a 25-year-old university student and his girlfriend – initially used social media to organise wife-swapping parties for married couples free of charge.

They later rented a luxury villa to host customers, including single men “who do not want to randomly hire prostitutes” from the neighbouring provinces of Mersin, Kayseri, Osmaniye and Şanliurfa.

The couple, who did not accept customers from Adana for security reasons, charged the single men 1,000 Turkish lira (£230) for each party, Doğan said.

The suspects include a married woman, who told police she accepted money for sex in order to support her destitute father.