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Human (bride) trafficking a thriving business in Rajasthan

February 06, 2012 EP Admin 0 Comments

JAIPUR/ALWAR: Munni Devi, the woman who was picked up by the Delhi police from Rajasthan for abandoning a two-year-old battered baby, who is admitted to AIIMS Trauma Centre, was staying in a village in Jhunjhunu district for nearly three months. She was sold off to a man here for Rs 2.5 lakh by a human trafficking gang.

Munni Devi is not an isolated case of girls being sold in the area. The two key suspects in the battered baby case- Rajkumar and Kanta Bai - have a case registered against them with the MIA police station in Alwar district.

"The case was registered in August 2010 in which both had been accused of selling a girl to someone," said a senior police officer. source

"On August 16, one Ali Akbar from West Bengal had approached the then Alwar SP Alok Vashishta claiming that he had married off his daughter Shayara to one Anees, a resident of Mia police station area in Alwar. Over a period of three years, the girl was sold to four different people. Anees first sold her to one Vikki who further sold her to Kanta Bai. The woman then sold her to Rajkumar and finally Shayara was bought by one Jagmohan. The police recovered the girl from Jagmohan," the officer said. Shayara was later produced in a court and then handed over to her father.

Rajkumar and Kanta Bai are registered as husband and wife in the complaint. While Rajkumar was arrested by the police and later released on bail, Kanta Bai had got an anticipatory bail.

Such gangs are active in Rajasthan, Haryana, and Delhi. Most of these girls belong to Orissa, West Bengal, Bihar and Assam from where these gangs abduct or buy them from their parents. They are either forced into prostitution or made to marry an older man.

Several first information reports (FIR) have been registered with the police across the state which point at the thriving business of selling girls for money.

In Alwar district alone, at least six cases of girls being sold had come up in 2010. Add to that, several cases that go unreported everyday.

"The masterminds behind these gangs are mostly residents of Mewat region in Rajasthan which includes Alwar district. In some recent cases, those involved in the racket have turned out to be drivers. Parents sell their girls in Orissa, West Bengal, Bihar and Assam for Rs 20,000 to Rs 50000. Then, they are brought to Rajasthan and other states including Haryana and Delhi," a senior police officer said.

The gang members marry the girls, rape them and then after some time sell them off to a buyer at a higher price.

"In some cases, it has been found that the owners of dhabas and hotel owners situated on the Jaipur-Delhi national highway play the role of mediators in selling the girls to the third party," the officer added.