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Saturday, September 27, 2014

Hyderabad girl sold to Arab in Goa by her mother, brother-in-law, escapes

Hyderabad: A 15-year-old girl who was reportedly sold to a Gulf national a week ago allegedly by her mother and brother-in-law escaped from Goa and returned to Hyderabad.
A rights activist, who is sheltering a girl who ran away from her Arab national husband, said the minor was sexually exploited by about 15 people. “She is now mentally unstable,” alleged activist Jaya Vindhyala.
According to Ms Vindhyala, there was already a case against her brother-in-law who had earlier sold his daughter from his first wife to the Arab.
The man, identified as Akbar, had been planning to marry the minor to a Gulf national for a year. According to the victim, she was dropped at the airport by her brother-in-law and mother from where the man took her to Goa. “The girl said when she refused the mother and brother-in-law beat her up. Her condition is not stable. We are taking her to the police station now." said Ms Vindhyala.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Stree Shakti: Saving 'Paros' of Mewat







The wrinkles on Fazila’s face betray her troubled past. She was brought from Assam and sold to a disabled man in Mewat, Haryana, when she was barely 14 years old, the first of her several husbands. “He brought me to Delhi for 1500 rupees and got me married to a handicapped man. I was forced to do manual labour and even subjected to physical violence and torture,” Fazila, victim of bride trafficking said. 

Women like Fazila were undergoing severe exploitation and abuse as brides before they were rescued by this man Shafiq Khan and his group Empower People. “Bride trafficking is a form of trafficking where girls are deceived in the name of marriage and sold to other buyers. These girls are then kept by buyers as their sex slaves and exploited as laborers,” Shafiq Khan, Founder, Empower People, said. 

Used as sex slaves, sold and resold, these hapless victims come from vulnerable socio-economic backgrounds, an easy prey for bride traffickers. “In the pretext of marriage and declining sex ratio the brides are bought as bonded labourers or to put them into sex trade. In some cases they are also used by group of men within the same family,” Shafiq Khan said. Shafiq has been creating awareness about these trafficked women for the past six years. Watch his story on Amazing Indians this weekend.  Source


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Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Man arrested in Rajasthan for selling off wife



Jaipur: A man in Rajasthan's Chittorgarh district was booked on Saturday for allegedly selling his teenaged wife for Rs 3.5 lakh soon after their marriage, police said.
According to police, the incident took place near Bhadsoda town in the district, some 300 km from Jaipur.
"The 17-year-old girl was married to Madan Kumar, a resident of a village near Bhadsoda, on June 12. She disappeared soon after marriage," said a police officer.
The girl's family members came to know about her disappearance when her brother went to her husband's house recently.
"The brother had come to the in-laws' house when her husband did not let her family members speak with her even on the mobile phone. The girl's family members approached a court which directed police to lodge a first information report (FIR) against Madan Kumar Friday," said the officer.
It came out during preliminary investigation that the girl was sold to Ratan Lal, living in a nearby village, the officer added.
"We have recovered the girl. Her statement will be recorded before a magistrate," said the officer.
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Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Human Trafficking: RPF detains 5 minor girls

BHUBANESWAR: Suspecting human trafficking, five minor girls from Bhadrak were rescued by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) of Bhubaneswar station on Tuesday.� The RPF swung into action after receiving a call about the five minor girls travelling in Baripada-Bhubaneswar Intercity accompanied by a boy. Inspector in-Charge Varun Behera with a team reached platform no.4 to inspect the train and found five girls, aged between 12 and 17, and an 18-year-old boy.
�When the five failed to give a satisfactory reason for their travel, police detained them. During questioning it was found that a man, Babu Rout,� from an area under Tihidi police limits of Bhadrak district was allegedly sending them to Madurai, Tamil Nadu, to work in a nut and bolt factory. They were told that they would be paid ` 4,500 a month. Dissatisfied with the reasoning, the girls were cross-examined further during which one of the them protested their detention.
�According to Behera, the girls had no clue as to where they were going and what kind of work they would be given. It was the boy accompanying them who was answering all the questions on their behalf. It was later found that the middleman accompanying them had escaped on seeing the police officials. The police have informed the parents, who were unaware of the entire thing. “We suspect a sex racket as it was not usual for the girls to be working in a labour- intensive factory. We will get to more only after questioning their parents, who have been called,” said Behera.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Human traffickers on the prowl in Jharkhand


A plethora of beneficial schemes for women and girl child under Bitia Varsh in 2012 and Ladli Lakhsmi Yojna, is said to be launched on the 11th foundation day of Jharkhand, celebrated on 15th November by the Chief Minister Arjun Munda. “We care!” is the resounding affectionate message that will resonate this year for addressing the problems and upliftment of the girl child.
However, Jharkhand, a decade old State is grappling with numerous problems and human trafficking especially of its women and children tops the list. This nemesis caught the attention and stirred the conscience of the Government and the society in 2004 when maximum numbers of trafficking cases were reported from Jharkhand. The State’s present data still adds creases of worry with 100 per cent rise in trafficking cases in 2010-11.
Shakuntala Kujur(name changed) a resident of Mander block of Ranchi district works in Reliance Fresh and is a trained security guard. Until a few years ago her life was a tragedy worst compounded. It bears a tale of saddest experiences, an ignominious life of torture and deceit by her close relative. Traded and sold as cattle at the minor age of 12, she hoped of financially helping her family living in abject poverty after the death of her father.
Her uncle sold her to a middle man who brought her to Delhi and placed her as a domestic worker. At her employers house she was subjected to over work and denied enough food and sleep. For every mistake committed she was abused physically and verbally. Deprived of proper shelter, she was often sexually assaulted by the driver of her employer who terrorised her of dire consequences.
Numbed by the constant physical and mental exploitation, survival for her became a daily battle. She recounts a horrid instance, once when unable to lift a heavy trunk, her mistress beat her so brutally that she was left with a broken arm and multiple injuries. After four years, Shakuntala could muster courage to slip out of the house and reach Delhi railway station. Luck favoured her as she was caught by the Railway Police and sent to Ranchi. Here she came into contact with Bhartiya Kissan Sangh, an NGO, who trained her to become a security guard and live a dignified life.
In a bizarre incident of last month, Shiela Soren from Simdega was abducted by her distant brother-in-law at gun point while on way to her college hostel in Ranchi. She was sold for `25,000 to a group of traffickers who brought her to Delhi and was waiting for a better bargain to sell her further. For two months she lived in sub-human condition with no respite from the unending torture. By sheer luck, she contacted her family and was rescued by the Ranchi Police. Shocked, she looks overtly blank with an aura of deep melancholy blanketing her face. Innumerable heart - numbing accounts faced by thousands of girls trafficked from Jharkhand go unreported.
The python-headed insatiable greed, its mouth gaping wide, is engulfing the conscience of the society. Its serpentine grip is strangulating our reasoning, compassion and sympathy towards our own and the deprived. Universally, humans migrate in search of improved economy and security- the basic elements of life. In the process people from the weaker economic sections of society due to ignorance and naivety are lured into a world of exploitation and commercialisation and treated as commodities for monetary gains. They fall prey to the nefarious intentions of domestic and international gangs.
Human trafficking is a serious human rights violation. It is an organised crime estimated to generate crores of profit per year for the well networked global traffickers. The strength of trafficking business is the anonymity of the supply chain which is long, undulated and uneven involving recruiter, seller, buyer, transporter and agent at different points of time. The traffic victims are confined and forced to work as bonded labourers, servitude, removal of organs, for marriage and often forced into prostitution.
Trafficking is preponderant in the extremely torn regions of Palamu, Garhwa, Chaibasa, all districts of Santhal Parganas, Lohardagga, Ranchi, Khunti, Dhanbad and Bokaro. Most of the women and children trafficked from Jharkhand belong to Oraon, Munda, Santhal and Gond tribes. 77 per cent girls trafficked belong to the ST category, 12 per cent to SC, 3 per cent to the general and 8 per cent to the OBC category as informed by Sanjay Mishra of ATSEC. Illiteracy, deplorable living conditions due to miniscule economic development, life of depravation due to less employment opportunities make them vulnerable. The glare of metros seed desire to work in cities where it is easier to conceal ones identity.
According to the data released by the NCRB, cases of sexual exploitation of minor girls records a 186.5 per cent increase. Conscience awakening of committed NGOs, CBOs, Civil Society, Jharkhand State Women’s Commission, State Social Welfare Department, the police and the judiciary can curb this inhuman practice. Government must generate adequate livelihoods to check exodus. Panchayats, priest forums and media should spread awareness and educate women communities at village level against this menace. The exemplary work done by ATSEC, BKS, Asha Kiran, Diya Sewa Sansthan in the field of trafficking is the only silver lining in an otherwise a very dark cloud.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Girl rescued from her owners


TUMKUR: One of the three girls Afsana Banu (16) who was allegedly sold by her mother to work as domestic help to the relatively affluent families in Bangalore was traced. She was working in the house of one Syed Jubera Abdul Mallik in Shivajinagar area in the city.
Cases under the Child Labour Act were registered against Mallik.
Earlier, two of her younger sisters namely Saeeda Banu (14) and Asma Banu (11)� had escaped from the torture of their ‘owners’ and lived with their paternal grand mother Khairunnisa.
The district administration had rehabilitated Afsana and Saeeda in the Women and Child Welfare Department’s balamandira observation home here.
While Asma wished to live with her paternal grand mother only.
Their two younger brothers will also be rehabilitated and will be joining them in the special schools meant for mentally challenged, informed the Dr C Somashekara.
Meanwhile, their mother Shaheena surfaced and maintained as she left the children to work as domestic helps as she had no other go. The police have taken up further investigation. 
IBNLIVE

Friday, October 14, 2011

India is home of unspeakable crimes against women

Three African women have won the Nobel peace prize this year for raising effective protest voices against the discrimination and oppression of their gender in highly hostile and conservative surroundings. Who is doing the same in our country which was recently bracketed by the United Nations as the top two nations recording majority of ''117 million missing girls'' in Asia?

Amid empty talk of ‘empowerment of women’—rapes have become a routine affair with girl-children or teenagers being regularly targeted in every city, town or rural area. It is as if wolves have been set on the second-sex – feticide to outright killing.

A steep decline in the quality of governance, proportionate rise in public inertia and self-centered attitude or simple indifference of the public has made matters worse for women, particularly from the Dalit segment which remains most vulnerable against muscle, money and political powers of the intermediate caste with dominant feudal tendencies.

If on the one hand it is uninterrupted ‘honour killing’ against girls seeking to assert their independence in their personal lives, on the other it is the wanton outrage of modesty with no counter-action from the state or the society at large. Instances of poor and lower-caste women resisting rape and then disfigured with thier nose, hands or other body parts chopped are not few and far between -- some are reported but a large majority go unnoticed. In some states, ministers are themselves accused of rape.

At the ground level, women occupying high posts as head of state, prime minister, speaker, leader of opposition, chief of political party or holding other constitutional posts in the country is not making any material difference in the abysmal condition of the same gender.

Not a day passes when unspeakable crimes like rape, gang-rape or simple butchering of the victims are not reported from bustling cities and villages. There seems to be no safety for women of any age group unless they are protected by bodyguards. And these are a few privileged women in high-end jobs or business, politics or Bollywood.

The tilt against women have roots going back to centuries.

The insecurity (monitory or otherwise) relating to girl-child vis-à-vis a male one is further reinforced by moth-eaten traditions and beliefs. Education has not made any desirable change in the attitudes. The transparently hypocrite ‘educated middle class’ goes to Singapore and Thailand for sex determination tests. Some top film stars have also reportedly flown to these countries ‘to work out’ a male progeny.

False prestige

The so called ‘liberated class’ gives dowry to their daughters as a matter of false prestige when it has options available to make them stand on their feet so that they could make independent choices. There are lakhs of instances where rich parents of daughters have paid crores of rupees succumbing to the ‘black mail’ of in-laws or that of the husband but did not have the courage to bring their daughters back home (the fear of societal stigma!).

The end result in a majority of such cases is no secret – daughters are done to death by in-laws lusting for more money. This is the case with the city-based ‘modern, English speaking Indians’ who would otherwise be swearing by the western life style, thought and ‘individual independence.’

The cumulative outcome is that India has one of the largest incidents of female foeticide. The country has the dubious distinction of having one of the biggest girl-child prostitution in the world. In the list of annual missing (abducted) children (estimated to be around 70,000 each year) girl children are the majority.

The systemic brutality against the girl-child has, over a period, led to an imbalance in the sex ratio, with Haryana – the citadel of public lynching of women -- having the highest skewed ratio (877 women against 1,000 men). It is no better in Punjab, Delhi, Maharashtra and other states the northern India.

Haryana’s infamous ‘khap panchayats’ which order ‘honour killings’ of young couples marrying against the wishes of their elders, has the blessings of the political class, playing regressive politics of vote bank even after 63 years of independence and in spite of the Supreme Court’s scathing remarks on ‘khaps.’ One of the young Congress MPs, Naveen Jindal, has openly defended the ‘khaps’.

The irony is that there is not even a semblance of a pro-active step from governments, human rights organisations, women’s organisations or women politicians to bring a visible major policy shift in respect of administration of justice, law and order and change in the functioning of police which has a mindset tilted against working or ‘liberated women.’

Women’s organisations or government bodies step into the scene only if a rich or a celebrity is involved or if media continues to focus on the issue that is ‘encashable’. The concerns of these ‘professional bodies’ fade-out swiftly once the electronic media in particular switches off its camera on the victim.

Women, otherwise, portrayed in hyperbole terms in religious texts, literature and traditions of the country remain prisoners of time, traditions, political games and the rising consumerist web. There is no ‘safe exit’ for her even though she may be a city-based working women or an uneducated village women drawing water from a pond.

source

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Three Women Honored By Nobel Prize, Millions are Missing

This year’s Nobel Peace Prize went to three women. Announcing the winners last week, the prize committee declared, "Democracy and lasting peace in the world . . . cannot be achieved unless women obtain the same opportunities as men to influence developments at all levels of society."

But to take hold of those opportunities, women have to be born first.

The three women -- Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, peace activist Leyma Gbowee from the same African country and democracy activist Tawakkul Karman of Yemen –will share the $1.5 million award for "their nonviolent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work.”
One of the less visible forms of violence against women has been happening for decades in the world’s possibly two strongest emerging economies: India and China. A World Bank report released recently indicated that 1.3 million girls are not born in China and India every year because of overt discrimination and preference for the male child. The ratio of boys to girls in India has dropped from 983 per 1,000 in 2001 to 914 in 2011.
Other Asian countries are also seeing skewed sex ratios among their populations, and for the same reasons – South Korea, Singapore, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia, to name a few.

“The combination of ultrasound and abortion,” writes Mara Hvistendahl in her well-researched book, Unnatural Selection, out earlier this year, “has claimed over 160 million potential women in Asia alone.” And, she goes on to say: “If 160 million were missing from the U.S. population, you would notice – 160 million is more than the entire female population of the United States.”

Hvistendahl acknowledges that deep-seated cultural biases are partly to blame for the missing girls.
But the greater culprit, she maintains, is increasing wealth, elite attitudes, Western influence and technological interventions that allows for choosing the sex of the baby.

Social scientists and demographers have long warned that the millions of surplus men in those gender-skewed countries could destabilize societies, increase sex-trafficking, bride buying and forced marriages.
French demographer Christophe Guilmoto, who went around the world researching gender imbalance, found that sex selection typically begins with the urban, well-educated layers of society. In South Korea, for instance, it was an urban couple that engaged in the first selective abortion. In India, the gender ratio for recent births among women with at least a high school diploma was 114 boys for every 100 girls, according to the 2001 census, whereas it was 108 for illiterate women.
China’s one-child-only policy influences people’s decisions there to have sex-selective abortions or engage in female infanticide, which usually involves wrapping the newborn in a blanket and leaving it in a forest.
Because Vietnam has no such policy, and sex selective abortions are not done there, the country has a gender balance. But because its poverty rate is so high, mail-order brides is big business there, as is sex trafficking, kidnapping of women or selling them off. Men from female-strapped China and Korea cross the borders and buy themselves Vietnamese brides.

Guilmoto speculates that even using the conservative United Nations population projections, which assume couples will soon start having boys and girls in equal numbers -- something that is highly unlikely -- restoring the global balance of males and females will take until 2050.

Despite these dire predictions, there is little global attention on gender imbalance, which Guilmoto likens to an epidemic. More money is poured into fighting HIV, he observes, than in fighting heinous crimes against the girl child. The AIDS epidemic has claimed 25 million people worldwide, since the virus was first discovered in 1981.That, he points out, is a mere fraction of missing females.
Thorbjorn Jagland, who heads the committee that decides the winners, said he hoped the announcement of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winners would empower women globally and drive the cause for women's rights forward.
One such right is to be born, without which the causes these women championed would be meaningless – assuming they were ever born.

source

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Noida: Teenaged girl sold to pimp

Noida: A 13-year-old girl was allegedly sold to a pimp by a man here, police said on Saturday.
According to a police complaint lodged by the girl's father, a resident of Gejha in Noida Phase-II, one of his acquaintances Shaikh Momin (35), who used to visit his home regularly, enticed his teenaged daughter and she eloped with him on August 14.

The complete alleged that Momin, a resident of Alwar in Rajasthan, and his accomplices later sold the girl to a pimp, police said.
PTI  

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Tortured & raped woman fights for justice in Ajmer

AJMER: A woman belonging to the minority community stood steadfast against society when her husband "sold" her to another man for money and she was repeatedly raped for three long months. The local panchayat remained mute when her in-laws openly stripped her and her hair was cut. The patience of the semi-literate woman ended when her two-year-old daughter was snatched and taken to Raipur for child marriage. She went to Beawar police station and a case is registered against 24 villagers for dowry harassment, rape and "selling" a woman.

A tearful victim told TOI on Wednesday, that "even after registration of FIR, nothing has been done by the police in the last 15 days. I am hiding to save my life from them as they are hunting for me everywhere." She went to newly appointed superintendent of police Rajesh Meena who assured her safety and action against the accused.

According to the victim, she was married to Sabeer son of Nemaji Kathat, resident of a remote village Gunda ka Bala of Beawer block on April 15, 2006.

"They harassed me and demanded I bring money from my father as Sabeer wanted to start a new business," she said. Her in-laws were enraged when she gave birth to a girl and demanded money to bring-up the girl in their house, she added.

"My husband sold me to Ajad, son of Roshan of the same village on June 12, 2011 and he took me to a house where Ajad locked me and raped me for three months" she cried. She was freed in first week of September when she returned to her husband.

"They called a panchayat and stripped me accusing me of being characterless, blackened my face and cut my hairs," the victim told TOI in tears.

This was not the end to her ordeal. While the victim was crying after the ill-treatment, her husband snatched her two-year-old daughter from her. "They took my daughter to Raipur where they arranged a 'nikah' (marriage) of my daughter. I got pregnant after three month rape and they aborted the baby." The victim went to her father in Rupnager village and there she came to know that her daughter is in nearby Chittar village.

source

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Haryana sets up helpline for girls pushed into sex trade

The Haryana State Legal Services Authority has set up a toll-free helpline to provide legal assistance to the girls who have been pushed into sex trade.
A victim of sex trade who is in distress and who is compelled to continue with the trade can avail the benefit of the helpline number 1800-180-2057 to get legal assistance and get rescued, an official release said today.
NGO members and other people could also use the helpline to report such incidents to the Executive Chairman or Secretary of the State Legal Services Authority, it added.

source

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Man arrested for human trafficking

An Albuquerque man was arrested after he tried to sell a minor to an undercover agent.

Kendel Merrell is behind bars after he tried to sell a 17-year-old girl for $3,000 at a, "human trafficking party,” the Albuquerque Police Department said.

Police said Merrell "groomed,” the teen for prostitution but she was able to break away and call for help.

The woman’s mother called police after her daughter telephoned her panicked and distressed.

The daughter called her mom and said, 'Mom, call me back at this number and tell me there's a family emergency and I have to come right now,’’ an APD sergeant said.

KOB Eyewitness News 4 talked to a sergeant who worked on the case.

For his safety we've protected his identity.

According to police, the trouble started on Facebook.

Merrell, 22, added the 17-year-old to his list of friends.

At one point the girl posted something about needing a work.

Merrell jumped in and said she could work for him, selling hip-hop magazines and CDs.

"He told her things like, 'Tell your mom that this is a 24 hour a day job and 7 days a week,’” police said.

According to police, the two met up and the situation escalated.

Merrell reportedly forced her to have sex with him. He then allegedly sold her for $150 and said she could keep $50.

He threatened, "If you don't do this, I will have my friends take care of you,” police said.

Soon enough, the girl found herself at the human trafficking party.

"Kendel took her to a place where there were several men present and he intimidated her and told her, 'You're going to be there, you're not going to look at any of them in the eye. I want you to keep your mouth shut,’” police said.

APD said Merrell offered to sell her for $3,000 for as much sex as three days could allow.

At one point during the party she was able to get away from Merrell and leave.

That's when she called her mom for help.

Merrell is charged with human trafficking, criminal sexual penetration and sexual exploitation of a child.

APD said they're still investigating the case and looking into Merrell's close friends, but they don't think this was a large-scale operation.

source

Friday, September 30, 2011

15-year-old girl married off to money lender

A 15-year-old school girl was allegedly married off to a 28-year-old money lender as his second wife by her tribal family in Orthanadu in Thanjavur as they were unable to repay a debt of Rs 10,000.
Villagers said that Ramya (name changed), complained of sexual abuse by her ‘husband’.

“Ramya’s father took a loan from Murugan six months ago but could not repay the loan. Murugan told the family that if they did not repay the money, Ramya had to be married off to him after she attained puberty,” said Orthanadu police personnel.

“The family members confessed that they had ‘fixed’ the marriage recently. However, when we interrogated them, they denied that the wedding was performed,” said Orthanadu SI Veerasamy.
Residents of Narikurava colony said on condition of anonymity that relatives had attended the wedding two weeks ago.
“The moneylender forced the family to get the girl married to him. She should be rescued and taken care of by the government,” said the villagers.
The villagers said that Ramya was good at her studies but had stopped going to school in June.

“Teachers from her school, who wanted to visit Ramya, were not allowed to talk to her. Three other girls from the school have also discontinued studies,” they said.
Social welfare minister Selvi Ramajayam told DC that she would take action to rescue the girl.

“It is shocking that a minor girl was married off to a moneylender as a barter for a loan. I will ask my officers to rescue the girl,” she said.

source

Four minors rescued, traffickers in cop net

RANCHI: The Railway Police Force (RPF) on Friday rescued four minor tribal girls from being trafficked to Delhi and arrested six traffickers, including two women, in Ranchi railway station.

The four tribal girls who were rescued were Karishma Tirkey (15) of Gumla district, Kamla Topno (16) of Khunti district, Ranju Bakhla (17) of Khunti district and Ranu Tigga (17) of Simdega district (all names changed) .

These girls were being sent to Delhi by Sampark Kranti Express. RPF personnel while frisking the train coaches spotted the four in S2 coach, when one of the girls started crying and said they are forcibly being taken away.

The RPF personnel immediately detained three persons Amit Ekka, Asha Tigga and Suman Bakhla, who were travelling with the girls. On interrogation, Tigga later said three of their associates, who were travelling in the adjoining S1 coach, were the main culprits who ran the racket.

RPF personnel after moving to S1 coach detained Tabrez Khan (25), Nishad Ansari (25) and Sikander Khan. The trio were standing near the coach entrance and trying to flee when RPF personnel caught them.

During interrogation, all the six traffickers arrested including two women, confessed their crime and said they were taking the girls to Delhi for household work, said RPF police station officer in charge R K Sahu.

He said Tabrez Khan was the leader of the gang and efforts are being made to track other gang members in Delhi and other places. Police also recovered seven cell phones, a dozen photographs of girls and visiting cards of different persons of Delhi.

Complaint has been lodged on the basis of statements given by Karishma Tirkey, who alleged that these traffickers had promised them good job in metro cities and convinced their parents.

"The victims will be shifted to Child Helpline and then their parents will be contacted," said Sahu.

Rescued from red-light districts, stuck in red tape

Even after being rescued from brothels, only 10 per cent of trafficked immigrants from Bangladesh make it home every year, owing to a lengthy repatriation procedure, that is fraught with bureaucratic formalities

Two years ago, a 15-year-old Reshma (name changed) was a young teenager living in the Jessore district in Bangladesh, looking for a way to deliver her family from grinding penury. When a distant relative offered her a job in Mumbai, she decided to grab the opportunity.


Help at hand: The officials of Rescue Foundation train the Bangladeshi
girls who were rescued from the city's brothels. They are being sheltered
at Kandivli. PICS/SAYED SAMEER ABEDI
(Faces have been blurred to protect their identities)

The starry-eyed girl came to the city of her dreams, only to have them quickly cut short, when she was sold to a brothel by her relative. Luckily, Reshma was soon rescued by an NGO, and cops temporarily sheltered her at Kandivli's Rescue Foundation. It has now been two years since her rescue, but for Reshma, who recently turned 17, life has become one long wait to return home, as officials dilly dally over endless bureaucratic formalities.

A beleaguered Reshma has now given up hope. Almost 103 other girls, each rescued from city brothels, have similar stories to tell, as they languish in homes across the state.

According to workers of the NGO Rescue Foundation, which regularly raids city brothels, the procedure for the repatriation of rescued girls to Bangladesh is mired in so much red tape that they manage to reunite only 10 of every 100 rescued girls with their families each year.

This year, the NGO in collaboration with the police have rescued 103 Bangladeshi immigrants. A foundation member revealed that these girls, who are mostly minors, were lured into the country on false promises -- of job opportunities or marriage.

"The authorities manning the borders are often bribed to secure an entry for these girls," said Triveni Acharya, president, Rescue Foundation. She added, "Bangladesh is a poverty-stricken country. The traffickers brainwash the girls' parents by painting an attractive picture of a luxurious life in Mumbai. Some of these girls harbour aspirations of making it big in Bollywood. Many of them are brought to red-light areas like Kamathipura and Sonapur in Bhandup, in exchange for sums like Rs 10,000-20,000."

Too much red tape
After being rescued, the immigrants are sent to shelters, till arrangements for their return can be made. And then begins the prolonged and elusive journey home, which often ends in disappointment.

The rescuing NGO first makes an inventory of the rescued girls, attaching case studies alongside, which are then forwarded to the Ministry of Women and Child Development. Once their approval is obtained, they are delivered to NGOs in Bangladesh for Home Investigation Reports, in course of which a thorough background check is conducted, to establish the identity of the girls. After this, the Bangladesh-based NGOs sends their final reports to the Bangladesh High Commission.

Once the commission reverts with its approval, the Mumbai NGO sends a report to the ministry once again. Only after a no-objection certificate is sent back, does the NGO transfer the girl to the country.

As the process is lengthy and fraught with bureaucratic hurdles, months, and even years pass before the girls set foot on Bangladeshi soil. "Sometimes the girls have to wait for months, aching to go home, but do not get their NOCs from the government. Some of them lie about their identities or place of birth, making it difficult for the NGO to trace their parents. At other times, these girls have to act as witnesses, and are ordered by the police to stay on till they appear in court. In some cases, their background checks fall through, and they have to stay on in the homes. In such cases, they are rehabilitated here, and given jobs," said Kavita Saxena, who manages the legal section of the NGO, adding, "We cannot circumvent any of these formalities, and can be prosecuted if any discrepancies are found."

Officialspeak
Badruddin, an official of the Women and Child Welfare department at the Bangladesh High Commission in Delhi,
said, "We have to work according to the procedures laid down, as that is our duty. I cannot comment
on why the procedure takes so long."

Ravi Patil, deputy commissioner of the Women and Child Welfare department, was not available for comment.

source

Thursday, September 29, 2011

2 arrested for trafficking-attempt

RSS

URLABARI: Two persons, who were arrested on the charge of involving in the trafficking of three girls to India, were remanded into custody on Wednesday.

Police have filed cases of human trafficking against them.

The arrestees are Goma Dhakal and Gita Gurung of Urlabari-6, Doghare, in Morang district.
Police had arrested the accused on September 12 on the charge of involving in trafficking of Punam Rai, 16, Bishnu Maya Giri, 15, and an unidentified girl of Shanishchare-4.

Parbata Luintel, 16, of the same place was also arrested on the charge of helping the accused. The court has ordered to send Luintel to reform centre as she was under-aged.
Among the three girls, Punam Rai is under the protection of Save House, Biratnagar, whereas the other two girls have been missing.
It is suspected that Sanjeev Lama of Hetauda is behind the disappearance of the two girls. Lama has been absconding.


Meanwhile, Police have seized 33 cubic feet of timber along with a tractor from Urlabari-9 on Wednesday, which was being smuggled by covering with boulders, according to the Area Police Office, Urlabari.


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Kenyan marries off underage daughter to afford new wife - paper


Kenyan Maasai girls, rescued from being given away for marriage by their fathers, raise their hands in class, January 1999. REUTERS/Corinne Dufka
By Katy Migiro
NAIROBI (TrustLaw) - Government authorities have rescued a 13-year-old Kenyan girl whose father married her off so he could raise funds for his own second wife, the Star newspaper reported on Thursday.
In Kenya, parents receive a bride price when their daughter gets married. Traditionally, this is regarded as a way of compensating parents for the money they have invested in raising their child.
But poor families often marry off young girls – who are otherwise regarded as an economic burden – as a way of generating wealth.
The girl’s parents turned up at her boarding school in drought-stricken Turkana, demanding to take her away, according to the report.
“The father claimed that he had used the bride price to marry another wife and the girl must accept to stop learning and become a wife because he could not return the bride price,” Wilson Korombori, a local education officer, told the newspaper.
The payment is usually in the form of livestock, which is highly valued by pastoralist communities in Kenya’s arid northern lands.
Kenyan girls as young as 10 are often married to men five times their age, rights activist Stella Kanuri told the paper. In Kenya, the legal age of marriage is 18.
FGM LINK
Child marriage is closely linked to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), which is illegal in Kenya but continues to be carried out with impunity.
“As long as there is FGM, there will be early marriages,” said Dennitah Ghati of the Education Centre for the Advancement of Women in Kuria, close to the Kenya-Tanzania border, where 87 percent of girls do not finish high school.
“After girls undergo FGM, they are immediately married off to older men, old enough to be their fathers.”
In Africa, 42 percent of girls get married before they turn 18, according to a 2005 U.N. report cited by the Star.
South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu is spearheading a campaign called Girls Not Brides to end the abuse.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Teacher tries to sell girl to brothel, held

KOLKATA: Seema Pramanik (name changed) had thought she had escaped the murky world of flesh trade forever when three years ago, she was 'rescued' by a kind-hearted client, with promises of marriage and a life of respect. Her world came crashing down two days back, when she found herself back in the same world, brought there by none other than her 'rescuer'. Seema, 25, remained confined in a room in the red-light area of Sonagachi for two days, till police rescued her on Tuesday afternoon along with her 10-year-old son. Seema, who hailed from Bongaon, was married off when she was only 15. Her husband died a few years later, leaving her to fend for herself and her son. Taking advantage of her situation, a neighbour brought her to Kolkata six years ago, luring her with the promise of a job. She was sold to a brothel instead. Seema reconciled to her fate and started working as a sex worker. After some time, she saw a saviour in one of her clients, primary school teacher Biman Bose (59). The teacher from Kalyani, who claimed to be a divorcee, professed love for the girl, promised to marry her and adopt her son. For Seema, this was a ticket to freedom. So, despite Bose being 34 years senior to her, Seema readily gave her consent and accompanied him to his Kalyani apartment three years ago. "The marriage never took place and he introduced me as a domestic help to his relatives. But since he kept me and my son in his house and provided us with food, I did not protest. In any case, it was much better than living in the brothel," recalled Seema at Girish Park police station on Tuesday. This also made her silently endure sexual exploitation by Bose. But of late, Bose had started telling Seema that she would be sent back to Sonagachi once again. "On Saturday, he told me that he would take me and my son to Kolkata to shop for Durga Puja. I was very happy thinking he had had a change of heart and accompanied him with my son to Kolkata on Sunday," Seema told TOI. Her happiness did not last for long, however, and she found herself back in Sonagachi, confined in a room and under constant watch. Seema knew that before long, she would be sold off once again. But this time, she was desperate for freedom. Early on Tuesday, when Bose was in deep sleep, she managed to sneak out of the house for a few minutes to call up a friend from an STD booth. The friend informed Prantakatha, an NGO. Around 9 am, a team from Girish Park PS, accompanied by a volunteers of Prantakhata, raided 177 Ramesh Dutta Street and rescued Seema and her son. Bose and house owner Sandhya Das (45) were detained. "The main accused and the house owner are being interrogated," said an officer of Girish Park police station. "The girl broke into tears when we entered the house. She relaxed only when she reached the police station," said Prantakatha volunteer Tawkeer Hasan. A visibly relieved Seema said: "Life as a sex worker was hell. I don't want to go back to that profession at any cost. I am grateful that I was rescued before they could sell me off to a brothel again." source

Human trafficking: Abducted women auctioned off to highest bidder

MULTAN: Police officials have arrested two members of a gang ofhuman traffickers responsible for kidnapping women and selling them off to the highest bidder.

According to police officials, they recovered two women from the site but two of the gang members managed to escape. “One of the gang members who escaped was a woman who was responsible for identifying the women and making contact with them.

She used to convince the women that they should invest in her business and eventually she would call them out of their home on some pretext or other and then the remaining gang members took them away,” said a police inspector.

According to police official, Qasim Bela residents Dilawar and his brother Waseem Abbas headed the gang with former lady counselor Razia. “They used to travel to different villages and she was posing as a family planning centre counselor. Then she would begin talking about business propositions and how if I invested with her I would be able to set up my own business within two months,” said trafficking victim Tasleem Bibi.

Tasleem Bibi said that Razia visited her on August 18 at her home in Faisalabad tehsil Adda Satiana. “She had been visiting me for a week and I thought we became friends. All the while, she was watching my movements to see when my father was not at home. On August 18, she drugged me and her gang abducted me,” she told police. “When I woke up I was in Multan and I was being sold to a Hamidpur resident named Allah Datta for Rs 30,000,” she said.

Tasleem told reporters and police that there were four other women with her when the bidding started. “There was a large room and it was late at night. Seven men were bidding on which one of us would go with them,” she said. Tasleem said that she had remained with Allah Datta for six months. “He kept me locked in a room and raped me several times. His brother had also purchased a woman the same day but they were living somewhere else,” she said. Tasleem said that she was about to be sold a second time in a different location when the police came.

“They took me to another village and I was blindfolded but I could hear that they had begun bidding again, so I figured they would be selling me to someone new. That was when the police team arrived,” she said.

Muzaffarabad police raided a site outside Vehari on Monday night and apprehended two gang members Dilawar and Waseem Abbas. “Two of the female members of the gang managed to escape.

We have police teams searching for Razia and Irshad Bibi” inspector Asim Kando said. Police officials said that they had also apprehended one of the men bidding on the women and taken him in for questioning. “We only recovered Tasleem but she told us that there had been at least six other women who had been abducted by the gang,” he said.

“We are conducting a thorough inquiry into the incident and we will find out where else the gang has been operating,” he added.

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Owner of modelling agency suspected of tricking women into performing in sex shows

Joensuu man suspected of crimes including rape and aggravated human trafficking

Police suspect that the director of a Finnish modelling agency has taken sexual advantage of a number of young women in different parts of Finland.
The 48-year-old man from Joensuu is suspected of aggravated human trafficking, rape, and sexual abuse. The suspected crimes are said to have taken place between late 2009 and early 2011.
Police say that one woman became the victim of aggravated human trafficking, and five were raped.

There are at least 13 alleged victims, two of whom are underage. The youngest of the victims was 16 and the oldest were slightly over 20, says Chief Detective Superintendent Petri Rainiala of the drugs unit of the Helsinki Police.
Police say that the women had been enticed into the activities by offering them modelling work. One of the channels that was used was the website of the Ministry of Employment and the Economy.
Some of the women also took part in a modelling contest organised by the agency.

The actual work proved to differ significantly from that of a professional model. After signing the contract, test photos were taken of the women in little or no clothing, and work opportunities were primarily for strip shows and other erotic performances.
“For instance, the women were told that they would be modelling lingerie, and the event turned out to be a sex performance”, Rainiala says.

The suspicion of aggravated human trafficking stems from a situation in which the victim was allegedly had to perform sexual acts in private performances, for instance.
“There have been threats and actions that can be considered violent.”

Police say that rapes occurred in connection with performance tours. Sexual abuse also allegedly took place during photo shoots.
“The victims found the photo shoots to be very oppressive and unpleasant. Some refused to take part, but not all of them were capable of refusing”, Rainiala says.

The main suspect has been in custody since May. In addition to him, a man under the age of 30 has been remanded, suspected of two rapes. Rainiala says that the man himself had taken part in an erotic performance.
Rainiala cannot say how many women have been on the lists of the agency. Nearly 20 of them have been interviewed by police during the investigation.

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