The Hindu : New Delhi News : Girls from Latur being trafficked to Capital

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jun 20, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Girls from Latur being trafficked to Capital

Devesh K. Pandey

After the crackdown in Maharashtra, agents have started sending the girls to Delhi

NEW DELHI: After the recent crackdown on human trafficking networks, minor girls who were being pushed into prostitution and dance bars across Maharashtra are now being trafficked to the Capital. They are being brought here to be forced into the flesh trade.

Studies have revealed that Latur has become one of the major sources for trafficking of girls. To investigate the trend, a team of the non-government organisation, Shakti Vahini, recently visited Latur. It was informed by the local administration that several girls from poor economic background were being sent to different parts of the State.

Investigations revealed that the trafficking agents used to take these girls first to Nagpur on board the Sachkhand Express, after which they were sent to different parts of Maharashtra. However, when the State Government began cracking down on dance bars and initiating action against trafficking agents, they began sending the girls to the Capital. During the study, Shakti Vahini managed to gather information on about 100 girls who are suspected to be in Delhi, probably in the clutches of pimps.

"Senior police officers of Latur gave us valuable inputs on trafficking of girls on which we are working. We have also formed an alliance with NGOs working in this area in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan," said Rishikant of Shakti Vahini. He added that once the team returns to the Capital with the list of trafficked victims, the organisation would try to rescue them with the assistance of the local police.

With a spurt in human trafficking in the Capital, the police have also stepped up efforts to smash such gangs. In one case, the North-West Delhi arrested five people, including the woman who was running the network, and rescued four girls from a Rohini flat. Three of the girls were trafficked from Bihar, Jharkhand and Assam.

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