Trafficking racket busted; 3 minors rescued

The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) today claimed to have busted an alleged trafficking racket in East Delhi and rescued three minors with the help of police.

A statement by the DCW said the commission's helpline received a call from a group of parents from Jharkhand who were searching for their children missing since three years.

The parents were accompanied by a minor girl who was trafficked along with other children earlier but had managed to flee.

The girl said she was getting calls from an alleged woman trafficker, who ran a placement agency in East Delhi, and was luring her to return to the national capital. The girl was earlier working in Bangalore where she was not paid for over two years, it said.
 

After receiving this information, DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal set up a team and a trap was laid. The trafficker was called to meet the girl at the Akshardham Metro Station.

When the woman and her accomplice met the girl, they tried to take her with them and were caught with help of local police.

During interrogation, details emerged about two minor girls. They were subsequently rescued by women's panel and local police, the release said.

Girls aged 12 and 13 years were rescued from Janakpuri and Pitampura. The younger girl is alleged to be pregnant. Separate FIRs were filed against the employers in these two cases.

One minor boy was also rescued from Haryana's Hisar.

The commission learnt that the arrested placement agency owner and the alleged trafficker were running their business from a very long time and earlier too, several minors were rescued and many cases were filed against them.

The minors were not paid for their work for years and on the papers seized their monthly salaries were fixed between Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,500. They were not allowed to go out of their employers' houses or even to contact their parents, it said.

Yesterday, Maliwal visited Mandawali Police Station and met with the children's parents. She called the SDM concerned on the spot and they jointly reviewed the seized documents. She urged the police to add sections of bonded labor in the FIR, the statement said.