New Delhi, July 3 -- Sean "Diddy" Combs was convicted on Wednesday (July 2) on two felony counts of transporting individuals for prostitution under the Mann Act, a rarely charged federal statute dating back more than a century.

Enacted in 1910, the Mann Act, formally known as the White-Slave Traffic Act, was passed during a period in the United States over "white slavery." Lawmakers aimed to crack down on organised prostitution and the exploitation of women by making it a federal crime to transport them across state or international borders for "immoral purposes."

"Immoral purpose" was clarified to mean any sexual activity that is criminal under the law (for example, prostitution or sexual exploitation).

Initially, the Mann Act banned ...