Bride trafficking rampant in Dholpur district
ALWAR: The rampant practice of girl trafficking is pulling down an already declining sex ratio in the Dholpur district. In the absence of girls for marriage, residents have now taken to abduction and trading of girls from other states.
Several cases have been registered by the police in the past two months where girls from states such as Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal and Chattisgarh were brought and sold off.
Rahul Prakash, former superintendent of police in Dholpur said "Due to the skewed sex ratio, there are not enough girls in the district; as a result, men have to look out for brides. Lack of basic infrastructure, no education facilities and a dismal law and order situation prevent parents from getting their girls married in this region. This has forced people to get into the business of human trafficking."
As per the Census 2011, the district has 845 girls against 1000 boys, a marginal improvement from 827 girls in the 2001 census.
"There is hardly any girl child left in some specific tribes in the district because of the practice of female feticide. To keep the family tree growing, people sometimes buy or even kidnap girls. Taking advantage of the situation, several gangs have become active in girl trafficking in the past one or two years. Some of these gangs keep the girl with themselves for a few months, rape her and then sell her off," said Abdul Shagir Khan, MLA from Dholpur.
In the past few years, several notorious dacoits have been killed or surrendered. Those who have survived have now joined in the human trafficking business. "Things have changed a lot in recent years. Many dacoits from ravine have joined the mainstream. Lacking in vocational skills and with a criminal bent of mind, they are now getting involved in trafficking. These gangs are growing and spreading to other areas," said Ramavatar Gujjar, a dacoit who surrendered in 2008.
