The alleged trafficking of innocent girls from Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh to other Indian states and foreign countries has started alarm bells ringing for the government. On one hand, while the Indian government is running awareness campaigns and launching women-centric schemes to protect the rights of daughters, negligence and inhumane behaviour of family members nullifies the efforts made by the Centre and state authorities. One such incident happened in Rajasthan this week.
A 16-year old minor from Madhya Pradesh village was sold like a commodity to a man living in Bharatpur, Rajasthan. Ironically, the seller, in this case, was not an accomplished human trafficker but the girl’s own father. Luckily, the Rajasthan police rescued the girl on Thursday (January 5) and she was sent to child reform centre.
Humanity Put to Shame Once Again as a Father Sells his Own Blood in the Market
16-year old Geeta (name changed) is a resident of Datiya village in Madhya Pradesh. Unknown to her, father Punjab Singh sold her for Rs. 4.5 lakhs, to a resident of Roopwas village in Bharatpur. The cruel father handed her over to uncle Shailendra and aunt Rani Devi. The couple was supposed to bring her from Madhya Pradesh to Rajasthan. Upon reaching Dholpur, she was entrusted to the buyer, where she learnt of this malicious deal.
While the offender was taking her to his place, the girl spotted local cops on the way and started screaming for help. The police immediately sprung to action and rushed to rescue her. Sensing the impending punishment, the accused fled from the location. That’s when the victim narrated her tale to the police and requested their help. After intercepting her in Dholpur, they looked for the alleged buyer.
Upon further investigation, they discovered that the conspiracy of female trafficking was hatched in Poorani Chawani area in Gwalior. The cops arrested her aunt and uncle on the charge of kidnap and illegal detention. For now, they’ve lodged a Zero FIR (it is a police complaint lodged by the victim of a cognizable offence or by someone who is related to the victim). They’ve sent the accused to Purani Chawani police station in Gwalior and recovered the girl.
Since the girl expressed her reluctance towards returning back to Madhya Pradesh, she was sent to the child reforms committee. Hopefully, the female activists will make arrangements for her rehabilitation.
Seeing incidents like these, it has become necessary for the government to make firm laws to protect female rights in future. They’ve already tried to create awareness by ambitious women-centric schemes like Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, but now, they need to lay down strict measures to prevent such incidents from happening in the future.
