Dad’s 3-month search for lost daughter ends in city brothel

AMBIKA PANDIT IN THE TIMES OF INDIA

NEW DELHI: In the chaos of busy Swami Shradhanand Marg, commonly referred to as GB Road and known as the capital’s largest red light area, a father wept inconsolably as he hugged his 18-year-old daughter rescued from a hidden chamber in the wall inside a filthy brothel on Thursday.

A Class X student aspiring to be a nurse, the girl was kidnapped from outside her house in a village in the South 24-Parganas district of West Bengal in February this year. She was trafficked to Delhi but police in her home district only registered an FIR in the case on Friday even though the matter was reported by the family on February 15. It was dumped as a mere diary entry of a “missing complaint”.

Even in Delhi all of Friday was spent in deciding whether an FIR should be registered here or not. Finally Delhi Police decided to leave it to the police in West Bengal to register a case and carry out investigations.

This case brings to the fore the plight of the families of missing children. The victim’s father, who is a daily-wage labourer, reveals that the girl was studying for her Class X exam in March. A committed student, the victim stepped out of the house for a short break from her studies and never returned. Her parents and two elder brothers searched in vain and their complaint to the local police failed to make an impact as the records show no effort was made to register a case by police.

Not one to give up hope, the victim’s father contacted NGO Shakti Vahini which had rehabilitated another girl who was trafficked from their village. “I thought maybe someone has taken away my daughter to Delhi like the other girl,” the father told TOI. Some time during the next three months, the father said, an unknown person contacted him to inform she had been kidnapped and kept in a brothel at G B Road. The family was told she was desperate to return home.

The victim’s family joined forces with activists from NGO Shakti Vahini to launch a rescue operation through Delhi Police. The victim’s brother who makes a living by doing embroidery revealed how they went up the narrow stairs to the dingy brothel and finally pulled her out from a hidden chamber. Another girl from Nepal was rescued from a similar chamber in the wall. The victim’s brothers now want to take her home to her mother who has been sick since her disappeared. But the family reunion will have to wait till early next week as the trial court sent her to Nari Niketan for care till final orders are issued for her rehabilitation.

Related articles

• Delhi govt drags its feet on draft bill on placement agencies (traffickingnews.wordpress.com)
• Trafficked, confined and raped in the heart of Delhi (thehindu.com)
• Two held for trying to sell infant for Rs.3 lakh (thehindu.com)

Delhi govt drags its feet on draft bill on placement agencies

AMBIKA PANDIT IN THE TIMES OF INDIA

NEW DELHI: The death of two girls allegedly trafficked from Jharkhand for domestic work in Delhi only underlines the harsh truth that there are no laws that govern domestic work. While the demand for a national legislation gets louder, the fact remains that Delhi government’s draft bill limited to placement agencies – that was put up for objections and suggestions last August – is nowhere close to becoming a law. The much announced and often cited panacea for the many ills surrounding domestic work, the draft bill may not become a law if it’s not finalized for approval of Delhi assembly before the monsoon session. The tenure of the current Congress-led government is coming to a close with the assembly polls scheduled for later this year.

The final contours of the draft which has drawn a lot of criticism from human rights and activist groups working with domestic workers are yet to be fixed. Top sources in the labour department pointed out that the latest delay was due to a debate over whether the ambit of the proposed legislation should be expanded to include workers beyond domestic workers engaged by placement agencies.

This issue was discussed at a recent meeting chaired by chief secretary DM Spolia. A consensus has been arrived at for now that the bill may be restricted to placement agencies for domestic workers. A meeting next month will take a final decision and put up the final draft for approval of the cabinet. Based on the objections and suggestions, some changes have been made to the final draft. For instance, it is now proposed to also register the link person who introduces the domestic worker to a placement agency to guard against trafficking and take measures against miscreants.

TOI had reported last August how the Delhi government’s draft Bill on placement agencies — aimed at reining in agents — had created a flutter among NGOs, with activists claiming it was riddled with loopholes. At that time, when the Bill was put up for objections and suggestions, it came under severe criticism from representatives of around 12 NGOs who voiced their concerns it’s provisions.

Rishikant of NGO Shakti Vahini, who is part of the investigations in the death of the two minor girls from Jharkhand, feels this case is a classic example of how domestic work needs legal regulations. “Just implementing an Act in Delhi will not help as the problem is national. Domestic workers are being brought from states like West Bengal and Jharkhand. It’s important to put in place a national plan of action for placement agencies to ensure coordination between states,” said Rishikant.

Social activist Subhash Bhatnagar too feels the government’s focus on regulating agencies is misplaced and monitoring employers who engage domestic workers is critical. NGOs want employers to be mandatorily registered with the state. Like in the case of the two girls from Jharkhand, most agents who bring girls to the city promising employment are exploiters not wanting to get themselves registered, say activists.

The Draft Delhi Private Placement Agencies (Regulation) Bill 2012 lays down that no agency shall employ, engage or deploy anyone under the age of 18 as a domestic help. Violation of the Bill’s provisions can fetch a jail term up to one year and a fine of Rs 20,000. The provisions state that only licensed individuals or private agencies can provide private domestic workers. The licences will be issued for a period of five years by a controlling authority comprising officers of the level of joint labour commissioner. All existing placement agencies are required to register with the state within three months of the new law being notified.

The Bill mandates a placement agency to display its licence at the office and maintain a register with records of domestic workers and employers. The labour department has been empowered to inspect and crosscheck these documents. The agency has to issue photo IDs to workers and inform the controlling authority about deployment of workers within five days of their getting employed. Each worker will have a bank account and a pass book in which their salary will be deposited.

Girl sold, raped and rescued

DEVESH PANDEY IN THE HINDU

The long journey of Debyani (name changed) from her village in the Burdwan district of West Bengal to Delhi and then to Bharatpur in Rajasthan is a saga of a minor girl who was kidnapped by traffickers and sold off for forced marriage and then subjected to continuous physical and sexual abuse for the past four years. The girl, who has now been rescued, is the mother of two children.

On the pretext of getting her employed as a domestic help, a fellow villager had one day taken Debyani along to a place where she was handed over to a trafficker four years ago. It was two years after she went missing that the local police registered a specific case on the basis of a complaint lodged by her father who raised suspicion about the complicity of a girl named Sulekha.Police investigations revealed that she was handed over to a person named Kalu Sheikh, who sold her off for a paltry sum. She was then forcibly married to a resident of Deeg village of Bharatpur in Rajasthan. “About a year ago, the investigating officer tracked her down and rescued her. He also arrested Kalu Sheikh. The girl had by then become the mother of two children. Surprisingly, she was escorted back to West Bengal by some villagers. In her judicial statement, she claimed that she had fled on her own as her parents wanted to push her into prostitution. As a result, the accused was released on bail and the girl was taken back to Rajasthan,” said a West Bengal police officer.

It was after the victim’s family moved habeas-corpus petition in the High Court that an Anti-Human Trafficking Unit team led by Inspector Sarbari Bhattacharya was directed to probe the matter. The officer discovered that the case had been closed. She got it reopened and in coordination with non-government organisation Shakti Vahini reached Bharatpur.

“The moment the girl saw the Bengali-speaking woman officer, she clung onto her pleading to take her back home. She even forgot to take her elder son along and wanted to leave immediately. She kept crying, alleging that she was sold off and subjected to torture,” said Rishi Kant, who was part of the rescue team.The police officer made enquiries and found that a woman named Rakhi from West Bengal, who had settled down there 20 years ago, lived in the neighbourhood. “During questioning, she disclosed that she had bought the victim from her relative Kalu Sheikh. Her brother had tortured the victim so much that she still dreads him.”

Realising that it was purely a case of human trafficking, the officer decided to rescue the girl along with her two children and arrested Rakhi. “However, it will be difficult for us to now track down Kalu Sheikh and Sulekha…there are umpteen number of cases were girls and women from West Bengal are being trafficked to places like Delhi and being pushed into prostitution, forced labour and marriage. But we come across officers who do not realise the gravity of the problem and treat the victims as just ‘poor Bengalis’,” said a West Bengal Police officer.

Related articles

• Trafficking of tribal girls: Sick gardens trigger exodus (traffickingnews.wordpress.com)

Trafficking of tribal girls: Sick gardens trigger exodus

SUMATI YENGKHOM IN THE TIMES OF INDIA

Several Delhi-based placement agencies, that claim to provide work to these trafficked girls, are being run illegally and without any registration. These agencies work in nexus with the ‘agents’ who are local tea garden workers and known to the victims.

The ignorant poor parents, who cannot feed their children, are ready to lap up the opportunity of sending the children to Delhi for work. in order to get rid of the their responsibility and also in the hope of getting a regular monthly income.

Once the victims reach Delhi, they stay in touch with the families for a few days. some of them is in contact with the family. But soon they are barred from communicating with their parents and also, money stops reaching their families. Only a handful of them get work as domestic help, while the rest are either sold in brothels or for marriage.

About four months ago, a placement firm by the name Sai Placement Agency lured four girls from the Mateli police station area. Shakti Vahini members rescued the girls with the help of West Bengal Police. The agency was found to be fake and the trafficker Neelima Sharma was arrested after an FIR (number 223/12 under section 363/366/374 dated 21/11.2012) was lodged with the Mateli police.

Though the trend of migration by tribal girls started way back in 2000, the exodus has taken a massive proportion in last five to six years after several tea gardens were declared sick. Many of these tea estates do not even have primary schools and heathcare facilities. There is hardly any penetration by organizations that work for the welfare of the tribals.

Jalpaiguri police are aware of the magnitude of the problem and admitted that there is need to do much more to prevent trafficking. Police’s anti-trafficking activities like awareness programmes are restricted to educational institutions, a place that is out of bounds to the girls here.

“Poverty is the main issue. Unless it is addressed, the girls here will remain vulnerable. Though we cannot do much on that front, we are working on other preventive measures. Few days back we arrested two agents in Banarhat for trying to lure some girls. We need to penetrate deeper into the tea gardens. Officers-in-charge of all police stations have been asked to maintain records of girls who are going away for work, the persons taking them away, contacts of employers in collaboration with the local panchayats,” said Jalpaiguri SP Amit P Javalgi.

The schemes for the poor, like the BPL card and old age pension, are distant dreams. Most are not even aware of the existence of such schemes. There is no effort worth mentioning on part of local politicians for uplift the economic status of this tribal population. A major portion of the funds under schemes like NREGA are being pocketed by local panchayats.

“Recently we found misappropriation of NREGA funds by the local panchayat. Many garden workers were made to sign that they were paid for 100 days work, whereas these illiterate workers were paid only for seven days. We were even threatened by some panchayat members for unearthing this information and educating workers on their rights and dues,” said Omega Minj, a field worker.

Unfortunately NGOs active in anti-trafficking in many pockets of North Bengal seem to have left out these tea gardens of Jalpaiguri.

“We have been working in various parts of North Bengal but we need better penetration in the tea gardens. We will work out with the district administration, police and other stake holders to start off,” said Rishi Kant of Shakti Vahini, an orgnisation that has successfully worked with administration and police in Malda.

Going all guns out on the traffickers by the police could only serve a temporary purpose. Till the concerned departments salvage the tea garden community out of poverty and hunger, young women and children will continue to be smuggled unabated from the cursed tea gardens.

Child trafficking continues to be a lucrative trade in Capital

FAIZAN HAIDER IN THE HINDUSTAN TIMES

Around this time in 2012, the issue of child trafficking was in limelight due to the case of the battered child and her 14-year-old ‘guardian’. The teen was treated as a victim when it came to light that she was raped and her father used to beat her up. A year on, various gangs continue to smuggle in young girls to the Capital and force them to work for various placement agencies. “The case was an eye-opener. The chain of events that had led to the incident was shocking. Along with the 14-year-old girl, the mother of the baby too was a victim of trafficking,” a child right activist said.

Following the incident, the Delhi Police launched a massive crackdown on placement agencies and trafficking gangs. Over 1,000 children were rescued in 2012 and action was taken against more than 150 placement agencies. The rescued children were usually employed as workers in factories or as domestic helps in homes.

“On an average, 14 children go missing in Delhi every day. Many of them end up in traffickers’ hands. Children below eight years are forced into begging. The older ones are pushed into child labour.  Organised gangs kidnap minors and transport them to other cities,” said Rakesh Senger, national secretary of Bachpan Bachao Andolan, an NGO.

Sources in Delhi Police said special measures were being taken to curb the problem. “We have identified the areas from where children go missing. We will soon launch an awareness programme to educate parents about safeguarding their children. We take missing persons’ complaints very seriously now,” said a senior police officer.

Rishikant, executive director of NGO Shakti Vahini, said strict laws against trafficking could act as a deterrent.

Related articles

• Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir flags off march against child labour, trafficking (traffickingnews.wordpress.com)
• 64 minors rescued from 7 placement agencies (traffickingnews.wordpress.com)
• 64 minors rescued from 7 placement agencies (shaktivahini.wordpress.com)

Bonded Child Labour

MINISTRY OF LABOUR PRESS RELEASE

The bonded labour system has been abolished throughout the country w.e.f 25th October, 1975 under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Ordinance which was replaced by Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976. As and when existence of bonded labour is detected, such persons are identified for rehabilitation. The responsibility of identifying and rehabilitating the freed bonded labourers lies with the respective State Governments.

In order to assist the State Governments in the task of rehabilitation of identified and released bonded labourers, the Centrally Sponsored Plan Scheme for Rehabilitation of Bonded Labour is in operation since May, 1978. Under the Scheme, rehabilitation assistance @ Rs. 20,000/- per bonded labour is provided which is equally shared by the Central and State Government. The Central Government takes appropriate action on National Human Rights Commissions reports or references on rescued bonded labourers for release of central assistance to the concerned State Government under the scheme.

The Government is implementing the National Child Labour Project Scheme since 1988. The scheme seeks to adopt a sequential approach with focus on the rehabilitation of children working in hazardous occupations and processes in the first instance. Under the Scheme the surveys are conducted to identify children working in hazardous occupations and processes. Of the children identified, those in the age group 5-8 years are mainstreamed directly to formal education system through the SSA, Working Children in the age Group 9-14 years are rehabilitated through the special schools. Children rescued/withdrawn from work are enrolled in the special schools, where they are provided with bridge education, vocational training, nutrition, stipend, health care etc. before being mainstreamed into formal education system. The Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986, prohibits the employment of children below the age of 14 years in 18 Occupations and 65 Processes. The Act regulates the working conditions of children where they are not prohibited from working. Any person who employs a child in any occupation or process where employment of children is prohibited under the Child Labour Act, is liable for punishment with imprisonment or with fine. Further, the Ministry launches awareness generation campaigns against the evils of child labour and enforcement of child labour laws through electronic and print media at the center as well as at the district level.

The Minister of State for Labour & Employment Shri K. Suresh gave this information in reply to a written question in the Lok Sabha today whether identification of bonded child labourers in various industries in a very casual manner is resulting in the engagement of children in those places; whether the Government is also aware of the National Human Rights Commission report on rescued bonded child labourers who are still waiting for rehabilitation and compensation; and the measures taken by the Government for speedy identification and rehabilitation of rescued child labourers in the country.

TRAFFICKING IN GIRLS – Measures taken by Government of India to combat trafficking

MINISTRY OF LABOUR PRESS RELEASE

Whenever instances of alleged human trafficking by placement agencies are reported, these cases are registered and investigated as per law.  As per inputs provided by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the total number of cases registered under different provisions of law which come under the generic description of human trafficking during the period 2009, 2010 and 2011 were 2848, 3422 and 3517 respectively.     The preventive steps taken by Government of India against trafficking are given in the Annexure. The Minister of State for Labour & Employment Shri  K. Suresh gave this information in reply to a written question in the Lok Sabha today  whether poor girls from various parts of the country including Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal are being brought to Delhi and other metropolis by traffickers who handed them over to placement agencies for their employment as maid servants when most of these are young girls and below sixteen years; and if so, the preventive steps and action taken by the Government against such trafficking, placement agencies and the persons who employ them knowingly that it is in violation of Child Labour Act.

Annexure

Constitutional and Legislative provisions related to trafficking in India

Trafficking in human beings or persons is prohibited under the Constitution of India under Article 23 (1).

The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 (ITPA) is the premier legislation for prevention of trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation. Certain amendments have been proposed to Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 to widen its scope, focus on traffickers, and prevent re-victimization of victims and to make its implementation more effective.

Thespecific legislations enacted relating to trafficking in women and children (Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994, apart from specific Sections in the IPC, e.g. Sections 372 and 373 dealing with selling and buying of girls for the purposes of prostitution.

Ministry of Labour & Employment

Ministry of Labour & Employment is implementing the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986, which prohibits the employment of children below the age of 14 years in 18 occupations and 65 processes.  The employment of children below 14 years as domestic help has been banned as per the Act, since October, 2006. In March, 2008 Ministry of Labour & Employment has also issued a Protocol on Prevention, Rescue, Repatriation and Rehabilitation of Trafficked & Migrant Child Labour. In addition to this Ministry has also issued guidelines in 2010 to all the State Governments/UTs administrations on regulation of functioning of private placement agencies.  Many State Governments have made provisions for registration of private placement agencies under Shops & Establishments Act.

 Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)

With a view to tackle the menace of human trafficking, Ministry of Home Affairs Government of India has undertaken a number of measures such as:

Anti-Trafficking Nodal Cell was set up in Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to act as a focal point for communicating various decisions and follow up on action taken by the State Governments. It also interfaces with other Ministries and National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) in the collation and dissemination of information. All the States/ UT administrations have nominated Anti Trafficking Nodal Officers who coordinate amongst themselves in inter-state trafficking cases. Similarly, Anti-Trafficking nodal cells have been created at district Level headed by Superintendents of Police. Coordination meetings are held with the State Anti-Trafficking Nodal Officers in MHA periodically.

Comprehensive advisories have been issued to all States/UTs for preventing and combating crime of human trafficking

A Project on “Strengthening law enforcement response in India against trafficking in persons through training and capacity building” has been taken up in the Ministry of Home Affairs as a joint initiative of the Government of India and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime,

Ministry of Home Affairs has sanctioned a Comprehensive Scheme “Strengthening law enforcement response in India against Trafficking in Personsthrough Training and Capacity Building” wherein it is proposed to establish 330 Anti Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs ) throughout the country and impart training to 10,000 police officers through Training of Trainers ( TOTs) component.

The Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) has prepared a training manual on “Human Trafficking-Handbook for Investigators” for sensitizing police personnel and these handbooks are being used in the National, Regional and State Police Training Institutes.

Training of Trainers (TOT) Workshops under pilot project with UNODC has been taken up  to enhance the capacity building of law enforcement agencies and generate awareness among them. MHA/BPR&D and UNODC have organized International, National and Regional ToTs on “Combating Trafficking in Human Beings”.

MHA, MWCD and UNICEF prepared draft protocol and SOP for dealing with cross border trafficking between India and Bangladesh to address the various issues relating to prevention of Trafficking,victim identification and repatriation and make the process speedy and victim-friendly.

Ministry of Women and Child development (MWCD)

 MWCD is implementing the following schemesto tackle the menace of human trafficking:

Ujjawala: The MWCD is implementing “Ujjawala”- a Comprehensive Scheme for Prevention of Trafficking and Rescue, Rehabilitation, Re-Integration and Repatriation of Victims of Trafficking for Commercial Sexual Exploitation. As on 31^st October 2012, 201 projects have been supported by the Ministry in 21 States, under which 101 rehabilitative homes have been sanctioned which can accommodate nearly 4650 victims. The Schemes provide for shelter, food, clothing for victims, counselling, medical care, legal and other support, vocational training and income generation activities. The scheme also promotes community based systems to prevent trafficking from source areas. As on date about 530 community vigilance groups and about 700 Adolescent groups have been formed in the source areas to prevent trafficking.

Swadhar and Short Stay Homes: In addition, trafficked victims are also given shelter in Short Stay Homes and Swadhar Homes for women in difficult circumstances.  The Schemes provides for shelter, foodand clothing for women and children below the age of 18 years, counselling, clinical, medical, legal and other support, training and economic rehabilitation and helpline facilities.

Related articles

• Maids to order: The darker side of richer India (ibnlive.in.com)
• Maid-trafficking reveals the dark side of “India Shining” (dawn.com)
• Human Trafficking in India (abhimanyu007dotcom.wordpress.com)
• Wales News: Wales’ new anti-human trafficking tsar named (walesonline.co.uk)
• Trailing vanishing children (traffickingnews.wordpress.com)

Bengal cops slapped bill to save girl: Mom

ANANYA SENGUPTA IN THE TELEGRAPH

New Delhi, Dec. 3: Delhi police rescued her daughter from the brothel a trafficker had sold her to, but Bengal police allegedly turned the mother’s joy into a nightmare by extorting her life’s savings during the trip to bring the girl back.The 45-year-old mother from Joynagar, South 24-Parganas, says she spent the better part of Rs 1 lakh — which she had saved up for her daughter’s wedding — paying the bills of the police team that accompanied her to Delhi in September for the girl’s handover.

“They demanded I pay for everything; they kept harassing me for money. I had to pay for their conveyance and meals in Delhi, their train meals and their taxi fares in Calcutta,” alleged the lady, whose husband is a vegetable vendor and TB patient.

“I cried because the policemen abused me in filthy language. There were about seven or eight of them, all from Joynagar police station where I had lodged the FIR when my 15-year-old daughter disappeared in May,” she added, speaking over the phone from Joynagar.South 24-Parganas deputy superintendent of police Papia Sultana said she knew about the lady’s charges against the policemen.“Yes, I have been told about this case and will take necessary steps. I will not allow such things to happen under my jurisdiction. If they are guilty, they will be punished,” she said over the phone.

Each state police’s anti-trafficking unit has a central government corpus to pay for police teams’ expenses while travelling outside the state. But the Joynagar police never transferred the case to the anti-trafficking unit, confirmed Sultana, the nodal officer for the South 24-Parganas anti-trafficking unit. So, the mother had to foot virtually all the bills except for the train tickets and accommodation in Delhi. If travelling police teams can show the transit warrant, the railways deduct the ticket prices from the state police’s account.

The accommodation was provided by the NGO Shakti Vahini, which had located the girl at Delhi’s red-light zone, GB Road, and tipped off the capital’s police. “The states do not give money to these travelling police teams. We pay for their stay in Banga Bhavan or make other arrangements when they come for raids,” said Ravi Kant of Shakti Vahini.

“However, there’s no reason a victim’s parent, that too a poor woman, should be asked to pay up.” The mother alleged that a Joynagar youth, who had taken her daughter to Delhi promising to marry her and then sold her off, was roaming free. She said the police were demanding money again to register a case against him.“He is from a wealthy family; a female cousin of his is a police officer in our area. He is roaming the streets with his head high, while my child refuses to even step outside home,” she said.

“The police are harassing us and not providing my daughter any security. One reason she is afraid to leave the house are the police themselves.”

Related articles

• Abducted Malda schoolgirl rescued from Haryana (traffickingnews.wordpress.com)
• Trafficked Assam girl rescued from Haryana (traffickingnews.wordpress.com)
• Maid-trafficking reveals the dark side of “India Shining” (dawn.com)
• Abducted Malda schoolgirl rescued from Haryana (shaktivahini.wordpress.com)
• Trafficked Assam girl rescued from Haryana (shaktivahini.wordpress.com)
• Maids to order: The darker side of richer India (ibnlive.in.com)
• Trafficked teen alleges physical abuse by doctor (traffickingnews.wordpress.com)

Trafficked Assam girl rescued from Haryana

THE TELEGRAPH

Guwahati, Oct. 20: A 16-year-old girl has been rescued from a Haryana village by an NGO, Shakti Vahini, in a joint operation with the anti human trafficking unit of Haryana police and Bhiwani district police.

The girl, a native of Assam’s Kamrup district, was allegedly sedated and lured out of Assam by one Abdul and was being forced to marry a Haryana villager. The girl told counsellors that Abdul used to follow her whenever she ventured out from home and gradually convinced her to elope with him. On the day she was trafficked, Abdul took her to a restaurant and allegedly gave her some sedatives mixed with the food. He then took her to a Haryana village, saying that they were going to his sister’s house. Instead, he took her to one Ajit and sold her off for Rs 45,000. The girl learned this from the owner of the house where she was kept. Ajit abused her in all ways possible. She was made to do household chores the whole day and at night. He also abused her sexually.

The girl’s family had lodged a missing complaint with Noonmati police on October 5, 2012. Rashi Kant, a member of the NGO, said, “Shakti Vahini received the information by email that a 16-year-old girl from Assam had been trafficked. The girl had reportedly called her family once and said she was being held captive in a Haryana village.”

The NGO then asked Haryana additional director general of police (crime) K. Selvaraj for assistance.The girl was subsequently traced to Pinjkhara village of Bhiwani district and rescued.Shakti Vahini members and police first raided the address corresponding to the mobile number from which the girl had called. But nobody was found there. Later, the rescue team found out that a person in Pinjokhara village was using the said number. The team rushed there and raided a house, successfully rescuing the girl this time.After the rescue yesterday, the police made a daily diary entry and Shakti Vahini counselled the girl and then sent her for medical examination. Following the check-up, she was sent to a shelter home. In the meantime, a Shakti Vahini representative coordinated with the Guwahati senior superintendent of police Anand Prakash Tiwari, who assured the NGO that a police team would be sent to Haryana soon to bring the girl back. An FIR (number 390/12) was also lodged in Noonmati police station yesterday under Sections 366A/372/120B/34 of the IPC, Sections 3 and 4 of the Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act and Sections 23 and 26 of the Juvenile Justice Act.

Shakti Vahini president Ravi Kant said, “The situation is highly alarming. Trafficking for forced marriage is the ramification of the skewed sex ratio in Haryana. Female foeticide in Haryana is causing a serious gender imbalance, which is finally devastating lives of girls. The fall in sex ratio people is creating a shortage of brides and for this, people are resorting to trafficking to get their sons married. Recently, several cases of human trafficking have been reported from Haryana.”

No medical test of minor tortured by doctor couple

ADITYA DEV IN THE TIMES OF INDIA

GURGAON: In a case where a doctor couple was booked for employing a minor girl as a domestic help on Monday, the police are yet to get the medical test done of the victim to determine her age. Also, no arrest has been made so far. Childline (1098), which was part of the rescue team, said the medical test should have been conducted within 24 hours of the complaint. Gurgaon child welfare committee (CWC) is looking into the matter. The victim has been given shelter at a local children’s home. Rishi Kant, spokesperson of NGO Shakti vahini, which runs Childline in Gurgaon, said according to rules police should have arranged a medical check-up immediately. “Somehow police here are very lax in cases related to child rights. Had it been Delhi, the medical test would have been done within hours, said Kant.

When asked, investigating officer Abhay Raj said, “The victim was taken for a medical test on Thursday, but the chief medical officer was not available. Now, the test will be done on September 4. We will make arrests only after the girl’s age is verified”.

The Haryana chief minister and Union human resources development (HRD) minister are visiting city on September 3 and apparently the administration is busy preparing for the event. Kant claimed the Gurgaon CWC ensures that issues related to child rights are handled with due care. When informed about the delay in medical test, CWC member Sunaina said she would look into the matter. However, later on, she could not be reached despite repeated attempts.

Earlier, a teenager, a native of Gumla distrcit in Jharkhand was rescued jointly by Childline, the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit, Gurgaon from the house of a doctor couple in the city. The Sector 4 residents, have been accused of employing a minor girl and torturing her. An FIR has been registered under Section 23 (punishment for cruelty to juvenile or child) and 26 (exploitation of juvenile or child employee) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.

“The victim was not allowed to speak to her parents. She didn’t get any money in return of her work. And whenever she requested to go back to her home, the couple would beat her,” said Kant.

Related articles

• Child Welfare Committee should have members of civil society (traffickingnews.wordpress.com)
• Child Welfare Committee should have members of civil society (shaktivahini.wordpress.com)
• Minor help rescued from Gurgaon (traffickingnews.wordpress.com)
• The Nowhere Children (traffickingnews.wordpress.com)
• A Move That Could Help Reduce Child Labor (traffickingnews.wordpress.com)
• Minor help rescued from Gurgaon (shaktivahini.wordpress.com)
• Experts discuss ways to curb human trafficking (traffickingnews.wordpress.com)
• Hospital calls patient’s daughter over his medical tests – while she was at his funeral (mirror.co.uk)
• Concerted efforts will weed out trafficking (traffickingnews.wordpress.com)
• Experts discuss ways to curb human trafficking- Judicial Colloquium held in Chandigarh (indialawyers.wordpress.com)