They were kept confined under claustrophobic conditions in an unventilated chamber inside a G. B. Road brothel here to evade detection. Until they were rescued by a joint team this week, the two minor girls were subjected to continuous sexual abuse and physical torture by the woman brothel owner and her men. One of the girls is seven weeks pregnant.
Members of the rescue team now suspect that bogus voter identity cards are being used by flesh traders to portray minor victims as consenting adults.
It was on the basis of a tip-off about some minor girls forced into the flesh trade that a team comprising officials from the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Delhi Police besides representatives of non-government organisation Shakti Vahini was constituted to conduct the rescue operation.
“There were numerous cubicles on the first floor. While looking for the girls in the cubicles we noticed that a wooden plank had been affixed to the wall in one of them. As we removed the plank, it led us into a narrow tunnel wide enough only for a single person. We found two girls inside it. The tunnel had no ventilation,” said a team member.
The team member said both the girls looked traumatised. Once out of the brothel, the victims were offered some eatables and then counselled by experts. They were then produced before the Child Welfare Committee.
One of them disclosed that she belonged to 24 Parganas in West Bengal and was trafficked into the Capital by an unknown person and sold to the brothel keeper for Rs.1.5 lakh.
The victim said she was in love with a village boy, but her family members was against the relationship and even beat her up. About eight months ago, the girl fled from her home and reached a railway station where she met a boy who took her to a place, kept her in confinement and raped her.
She was then raped by the boy’s friend.
She was then brought to the Capital and sold off to the brothel keeper. The girl once tried to flee, at which she was beaten up badly. She told the CWC that she was forced to entertain nearly two dozen persons every day.
“Her medical examination revealed that she is seven weeks’ pregnant. When she was brought before the CWC, a woman approached the Committee and produced a voter identity card claiming that she was an adult. However, it appeared to be a fake document. The CWC has ordered investigations into its authenticity.
In case the identity card turns out to be bogus, we suspect that a similar modus operandi is being used by the flesh traders in G.B. Road to evade law,” said Rishi Kant of Shakti Vahini.
The other victim, a Nepalese national, was brought to the city by her brother-in-law about five months ago and kept at a hotel for a few days before being sold off to the brothel keeper for Rs.3 lakh. “She disclosed that her elder sister died a few years ago. Her brother-in-law who lives in the same village had brought her to Delhi on the pretext of getting her a job in Saudi Arabia. She was beaten up by the brothel keeper whenever she refused to entertain clients,” said Mr. Kant, adding that both the girls were medically examined at JPN Hospital.
