17-year-old Tara (name changed) was living with her grandmother in Kushtia district of Bangladesh, before her life turned upside down.
Tara’s mother was a commercial sex worker who had been in Bengaluru for 15 years. After her grandmother’s death, Tara lived with her aunt in Bangladesh. Aunt gets Tara engaged to a local boy, but the marriage breaks up. Then, Tara’s mother, with the help of her sister (the girl’s aunt) and smuggling agent Laltu, smuggled her daughter across the border to India and then to Bengaluru.
Her mother and Laltu pushed Tara into prostitution and were sending her to many pimps. One of the many pimps was Sampa Begum alias Kajol, who was pushing Tara into prostitution in a brothel in Byadarahalli.
She was one of the 13 minor girls rescued by the Central Crime Branch (CCB), which along with two NGOs in the city, cracked down on brothels and rescued the minor girls. The police also arrested 26 people who were part of the racket and booked them under POCSO and Human Trafficking Act.
“It was a complex operation. A senior police officer said, both NGOs monitored these illegal activities for more than two months to gather evidence. The Hindu,
The operation was launched when an NGO received information about a minor girl being forced into commercial sex work.
On May 16, an NGO employee conducted surveillance on a brothel with the help of a CCB team. However, they could not confirm the presence of a minor.
The NGO continued its surveillance. This suspicion was confirmed. Three days later, a team of NGO staff and CCB went to Bayadarahalli and raided the brothel and rescued two victims – a minor and an adult. The police arrested the accused Munir and his wife Sampa Begum along with the customer.
Tara informed the police about the whereabouts of another pimp, who was followed by the police. Tara was admitted to the Government Children’s Home for Girls.
The NGO, which was part of the rescue team, was asked to help in her rehabilitation. Tara was very happy to use a computer for the first time during her stay in the children’s home. She wants to learn more. She is also interested in music and knows how to play some musical instruments. Recently, she was shifted to a private child care institute (CCI) where she has enrolled in tailoring and beautician courses. Tara’s ambition is to return to Bangladesh and use her new skills to earn a livelihood.
ugly truth
Police say it is a well-organized racket run by multiple agents as the demand for minor girls is increasing among customers. Of the 13 victims rescued, three are from Bangladesh, and had come into the city through the open border. It was promoted by a group of people who trafficked girls from Bangladesh to India for sex trade.
Police officials said that after the raid, the network has shifted its bases to neighboring states, but due to high demand they will come back after some time.
According to police data, the city is witnessing an increase in crimes against women and children. If we look at two specific markers, trafficking in women and POCSO, these have increased significantly from 2021 to 2023.
The city police registered 129 cases under the Immoral Trafficking Act in 2021. The number of cases increases to 155 in 2022, and to 161 in 2023 – a 25% increase from 2021 to 2023.
For the same period, the city police registered 403 cases under the POCSO Act in 2021, 480 cases in 2022 and 560 cases in 2023. There has been a 39% increase in cases under the POCSO Act from 2021 to 2023.
The accused of the crime have been booked under various sections including human trafficking, immoral trafficking and POCSO to ensure maximum punishment for the accused in the case.
Sad stories of minors trapped in prostitution
Based on Tara’s information, police raided another brothel in Anepalya in Ashok Nagar and rescued a 16-year-old girl.
The victim Priya (name changed) told the police that she is from Punjab and studies in class 10th. He told the police how he was passed from one broker to another.
She told the rescue team that she was lured by a group of local habitual criminals in Punjab, who lured minor girls with promises of love and marriage and forced them into prostitution. A smuggler named Deep pretended to be in love with Priya and took her away with him to Bengaluru a month before the raid. He sold her to brothel owner Neeta Kaur, who sold Priya to another pimp named Pooja.
Pooja pushed Priya into prostitution. Pooja alias Shobha Das, who has now been arrested, had threatened Priya to never talk about this business or her role in it. Since Priya had run away from home to live with Deep, she had no hope of survival until the brothel was raided.
Meanwhile, the victim’s parents had filed a missing complaint in Punjab and were searching for her. After rescue, Priya reunited with her parents. The police officer said that the victim gave her statement against the accused and demanded strict action.
Punjab Police has arrested Deep and he is currently in jail. The victim is now back in Punjab and has resumed her schooling. Through a local partner, the rescue team is monitoring the victim and providing online counselling. Priya wants to serve the country by joining the Indian Army.
too many sad turns
In another case, the CCB team raided a brothel in Parappana Agrahara and found that a minor girl had been trafficked again. Minor Geeta (name changed) was trafficked by her friend Mahi and her husband Akash. They cheated her by sending her from Tripura to Bengaluru for a ‘job in a beauty parlor’.
After coming to Bengaluru, she was forced into prostitution. When she was in prostitution she fell in love with Manoj. He took her home with him. However, in a tragic twist, Manoj’s mother Sonu alias Savita (an accused in this case) pushes Geeta into prostitution.
Geeta was rescued by Begur police on a tip-off. However, the police thought she was above 18 years of age, and Geeta was sent to a government women’s home. Later, a man claiming to be Geeta’s father submitted her actual age proof documents in the court. After this the victim was produced before the Child Welfare Committee and her father was released through the court order.
The ‘father’ left Geeta with the accused, who again forced her into prostitution. On getting information about Geeta, CCB raided the brothel and rescued the minor girl.
Geeta, who hails from Tripura, does not have good relations with her family. According to the police, his family may be involved in this crime, which is being investigated. Police said that the victim is currently in a children’s home. She is recovering and recovering from the stroke. Geeta is learning how to operate a computer, sewing and dancing.
Mother forces girl into prostitution to take care of siblings
In another case, the CCB team chased an auto driver when he was taking a victim and her mother to a customer’s house. They came to know that the mother had sold her minor daughter to a broker. At the customer’s house, the police team arrested the customers, auto driver, mother and rescued the minor victim Meena (name changed).
CCB investigation revealed that the victim is 16 years old and is a resident of Bengaluru. She is a high school student. He has five sisters and three brothers. Meena became emotional while narrating her story to the rescue team. After Meena’s father died, her uncle took over her father’s shoe shop, and Meena’s family did not have enough money to survive. Meena’s mother has diabetes, and they were unable to even buy medicines for her.
Meena’s mother asked her to enter prostitution to support the family. He did not tell Meena about the real nature of the work. Meena realized what she was doing only after her first day at work. But due to the miserable condition of his family he continued this work. He told the police that his mother used to handle all the money transactions with the brokers. Meena was not aware of how much money she earned. However, it was his income that paid for the past one year’s medical bills, rent and daily expenses.
“Meena is now being rehabilitated in a children’s home. “She is finally starting to get a chance to be like Asha and other girls of her age,” the police officer said.
In one such case, the police and NGO team rescued a minor girl from Kengeri.
The victim, Ramya (name changed), is a 15-year-old girl from T. Narasipura in Mysore district. He had completed his class 9. Since it was difficult to pay the fees, he had to leave school. She has four siblings – two elder sisters, one younger sister and one brother. His mother, Manjula, works as a domestic help and also sells vegetables. Her father works, but is an alcoholic and cannot support his family.
Ramya told the NGO staff that her other sister was to undergo kidney surgery and the family had taken a huge loan to pay for it. To repay the debt, Ramya’s mother Manjula sent her into prostitution through a distant relative. Now, she is living in a girls’ home, and the NGO team is assisting in her treatment through case work and counselling.
Police attribute the increase in the number of cases to increased awareness, initiatives to file suo moto case, and registration of e-FIR among other factors. CCB officials have increased surveillance and issued strict instructions to the jurisdictional police. Station in-charges have been directed to be sensible and sensitive in handling child sex trafficking cases and have zero tolerance towards any such activity.
Additional Commissioner of Police, Crime, Chandragupta, who supervised the recent rescue operation, said, “Cracking down on human trafficking for immoral activities, especially involving minor girls, is our top priority. The bigger responsibility is to rehabilitate these victims and accused and keep an eye on them to ensure that such activities do not recur. The focus is on rooting out social evils rather than taking punitive action.”
He stressed, “People should actively help the police to fight this social evil, which is blotting out a progressive and educated society.”
published – November 07, 2024 04:16 PM IST
