Call for law against ‘honour killings’

ANANYA SENGUPTA IN THE TELEGRAPH KOLKATTA

New Delhi, May 13: A government panel has recommended the enactment of a “comprehensive, standalone law” on the so-called “honour killings”, handing equal punishment to the killers, plotters and the instigators at kangaroo courts.

“The current provisions in the Indian Penal Code are inadequate in dealing with these acts of crime,” says the Planning Commission’s steering committee on women’s agency and child rights for the 12th Five-Year Plan.

Its report, posted on the plan panel’s website on Thursday, also calls for protection of the threatened couples against false charges such as kidnapping and for safe houses to be provided to them. (See chart)

The recommendations are not binding but sources said the Centre was working on such a bill.

In murder cases now, those who order the killing usually receive lesser punishment than the actual killers. For “honour killings”, the steering committee wants the same punishment as murder, ranging from a life term to the death sentence — including for those who ordered or instigated the killing.

“Honour killings” often take place when a couple marry outside their caste or within their gotra (clan) in breach of longstanding tradition, and are usually ordered or approved by family members or khap panchayat elders.

Another aspect of these murders is the passive role often played by the administration and police, who often fail to take steps to protect the victims even when they know of the threat. The steering committee has recommended that the new law fix the police’s liability.

An alleged example of the police’s prejudices came last week when TV channels purportedly showed a deputy inspector-general in Uttar Pradesh telling the father of a kidnapped girl that he should kill his daughter if she has eloped. “I would kill my sister if she eloped,” the officer was quoted as saying.

The steering committee has recommended that anyone publicly glorifying any harassment or killing in the name of honour be punished.

The Centre has received similar recommendations for a standalone law from a Planning Commission working group (in January) and a group of ministers set up two years ago to look into the subject. Honour killings are not a classified crime now, and no separate data of such cases are available with the National Crime Records Bureau.

Ravi  Kant, Supreme Court lawyer and President of Shakti Vahini, an NGO that has campaigned against these crimes, supported the demand for a standalone law.

A city court has asked the Delhi government to probe allegations against the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) that it released victims of human trafficking and child labour to their relatives, who again pushed the children back to areas from where they were rescued.

Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau’s order came in a case pertaining to a series of raids conducted by the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police and NGO Shakti Vahini last year. During the raids, several girls, including minors, were rescued from illegal placement agencies. Their custody was handed over to the CWC. During a recent hearing of the case the NGO officials told the court that they could not trace a few of the victims as the CWC has not provided the details of rehabilitation of the rescued children. The officials said they needed the children to depose in court.

“Subhir Roy, Director (Programmes and Projects), has also pointed out that many of the children, who have been rescued by them, have been released by the Child Welfare Committee to their relatives, who have again pushed them back into the same area of work and exploitation from where they had been rescued earlier,” the court said. ASJ Lau said the grievances of the NGO appeared to be genuine and could not be ignored. The court also took note of the fact that a rescued child was back to work through a placement agency and had been brought to court by her new employers.

Also, another child had given her address as that of Bangladesh, but the CWC had released her to some other relative, instead of being handed over for deportation, the court said. “It is writ large that the rescued children are being again pushed back into placement through other agencies. The entire purpose of the rescue and rehabilitation, as contemplated under the act, appears to be defeated,” the court said.

ASJ Lau asked for a copy of the order to be sent to the Department of Women and Child Development and the Social Welfare department. The two departments have been asked to look into the allegations and inform the court on the remedial action taken. The court also said steps should be taken to ensure that the rescued children are present before the court for their examination as witnesses.

TRAINING AND SENSETIZATION FOR JUVENILE OFFICERS ORGANISED IN GURGAON

Gurgaon Police in collaboration with Shakti Vahini and CHILDLINE(1098) organised a one day meeting to provide a platform for the Juvenile Welfare Officers  to have a open discussion on the working of the Juvenile Justice Act with various stakeholders. The program was attended by 60 police personnel’s and stakeholders associated with J.JAct. The meeting was chaired by Joint Commissioner of Police , Gurgaon Police . National level Resource person Shri Raj Mangal Prasad- Chairperson Child Welfare Committee  Lajpat Nagar, Ms Bharti Sharma and Ravi Kant , Advocate Supreme Court of India addressed the Juvenile Welfare Officers in the meeting.

Shri Anil Kumar Rao, Joint Commissioner of Police said that the Gurgaon Police have now designated Special Juvenile Police Unit constituting a Juvenile Police Officer and a women constable in each Police Station. He said that the task of the Juvenile Police Unit will have the following function:

a.    The Special Juvenile Police Unit and Child Welfare Officer at the police station will handle cases of both juveniles in conflict with law and children in need of care of protection and the social worker at the Special Juvenile Police Unit shall be the first line of intervention in all cases, as far as possible.

b.    The Special Juvenile Police Unit shall coordinate and function as a watch-dog for providing legal protection against all kinds of cruelty, abuse and exploitation of children and report instances of non-compliance for further legal action.

c.    The Special Juvenile Police Unit shall take serious cognizance of adult perpetrators of crimes against children and ensure that they are apprehended immediately and booked under the appropriate provisions of the law.

d.    The Special Juvenile Police Unit shall ensure the registering, linking and monitoring of information regarding missing children received at the police station, and shall investigate immediately.

e.    The Special Juvenile Police Units shall work with voluntary organisations, local governing bodies, community based organisations in identifying juveniles in conflict with law as well as reporting cases of violence against children, child neglect, child abuse and exploitation.

f.    The Special Juvenile Police Unit shall maintain a list of NGOs/voluntary organisations in their respective jurisdiction, and shall monitor the activities to prevent all crimes against children specifically trafficking, illegal adoption and detention of children.

g.    The Special Juvenile Police Unit to establish & maintain contacts with experts from various fields with the right credentials for their assistance/cooperation in child related matters, as and when required.

Shri Anil Kumar Rao , Joint Commissioner of Police   said that the  underlying philosophy of the Juvenile Justice System is to ensure that all children, be they in conflict with law or in need of care and protection, are provided with nurturing environment, one that is sensitive to their needs and requirements, offers scope for reformation as required and for overall development. It is therefore, imperative that the police who are invariably the first contact have an approach that is child friendly and caring.

Mr. Ravi Kant, Advocate Supreme Court of India took session on Juvenile Justice Act, Child Labour Act and Bonded Labour Act. Mr. Kant appealed that all the government officials should know that Child Trafficking for Labour is an organised crime, so it is extremely important for all of us to join hands in order to curb this crime. The need of strengthening of the restoration and repatriation of the victims was stressed. The impact of low sex ratio in Haryana which leads to child trafficking also dwelt at length. He also informed the Juvenile Police Officer  said that certain do and dont are prescribed which are :

Do’s

1. Ensure that the juvenile/child is provided with:

• Water
• Food
• Emergency medical care
• Access to toilet
• Access to phone

1. Talk to the child in a caring and friendly manner, avoiding derogatory, incriminating and abusive language.
2. Ensure that the environment is conducive for helping the child to talk freely.
3. Child/juvenile should be escorted to OH/FI/JJB/CWC by police officer in civil dress preferably and the officer should carry proof of his/her identity/CJWO designated.
4. Ensure that women police personnel are present when a girl child is taken into custody or escorted.
5. Ensure privacy, dignity and respect when children are brought to the police station/come in contact and subjected them to a search. Only women police must conduct body search of girl children with decency.
6. Ensure that all children brought to the police station are sent to a safe and secure place as per the JJA.
7. In the event of interviewing a child witness, ensure that the investigating officer goes to the house of the child and does not ask the child to come to the police station.

Don’ts

1. As far as possible police officer should not be in uniform when talking to the child/juvenile.
2. When CWC/JJB is not sitting, the child should be housed in a Children’s Home/Fit Institution/Observation Home.
3. A Child/juvenile should not be taken into police custody or kept in the police station between sunset and sunrise.
4. When a juvenile is taken into custody for any alleged offence CJWO to ensure that the juvenile is not beaten/abused/ill-treated.
5. Do not coerce a child to give statement/confession as this will not be valid at the JJB.
6. For children in conflict with law ensure that no dossiers are prepared or fingerprints taken.
7. Do not publish names and photographs of children in print or visual media.
8. When children are released on bail they should not be asked to report and sign at the police station.
9. In the case of children taken into custody for serious offence,

• Inform the juvenile/parent/guardian their right to legal aid but do not make any reference to a private lawyer.
• If juvenile is not released on bail, he/she should be sent to the Observation Home (OH).
• If JJB is not sitting, juvenile should be housed in OH.
• Offences committed by a juvenile should not be held against him/her when apprehended for offences committed as an adult.

Ms Bharati Sharma  discussed about trafficking of women and children. She stated that Law Enforcement Agencies should know about issues connected to trafficking of women and children . It is an organised crime so it is  extremely important for all of us to join hands  in order to curb this crime. She also talked about the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act. Dept Of Social Welfare  has initiated many activities for the emotional and economic  upliftment  of the victims .She stated  on the fact that  the main job of Social Welfare Dept is to work for the welfare of the victims. She highlighted the need of strengthening of the restoration and repatriation of the victims. She also said that “ Child Welfare Committee should be constituted as per the new Model rules of 2009. The police along with all stakeholders should ensure convergence and cooperation so that the best interests of children are protected. She spoke about the role of Child Welfare Committee and also requested the police to work in collaboration with Child Protection Unit in Gurgaon.”

Shri Raj Mangal Prasad Chairperson CWC, Lajpat Nagar requested the police personnels to write a detailed  case study of the  victim before producing them  to the concerned CWC. He also asked them to  get a detailed  medical check up  of the victims. He also requested the police personnels to be extra careful  and sensitive while dealing with issues pertaining to children.

The DCP (HQ) Shri Praveen Kumar Mehta said “There is an urgent need of sensitization of Police forces on the issue of Child Rights and Juvenile Justice Act. He said that Childline in collaboration with Child Protection Unit should prepare a Booklet on the various facets of Juvenile Justice Act.”

 Mrs. Jyoti Dhuan, the District Child Protection Officer said that the Child Protection Unit was operational in Gurgaon and has been working in close collaboration with CHILDLINE. She said that the Child Protection Unit objectives include assessing the number of children in difficult circumstances and create district-specific databases to monitor trends and patterns of children in difficult circumstances. Map all child related service providers and services at district for creating a resource directory. Ensure effective implementation of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 and its Amendment Act, 2006 at district/city levels by supporting creation of adequate infrastructure, viz. setting up JJBs, CWCs, and SJPUs in each district and homes in a cluster of districts as required.

Police personnel’s present there discussed the challenges faced by them while they deal with cases pertaining to children. Gurgaon Police also released the list of Juvenile Police Officers in different Police Stations.

“The investigation is going on. Already many girls have been rescued from the Delhi-based traffickers,” said Assam ADG (CID) Mukesh Sahai.Sources from the Delhi police said that on Sunday its personnel rescued a West Bengal girl from the clutch of a gang of traffickers at Chirag Delhi where many Assam girls were also found.Trafficking was going on there for the past few months, the sources said. An Assam police official, who had prepared the list of D elhi-based traffickers, said that an accused trafficker, Munna Choudhury, had even cremated two Assam girls in Delhi after their mysterious death, without informing the Assam police. Police reports available with Seven Sisters Post said that over 278 girls and children were taken from Assam by Munna for placement in Delhi.

“We found these records in his placement diaries recovered from an enclave in Rajouri Garden. Many of the girls, who came to Delhi under his aegis, are yet to be rescued,” said AK Bania, an Assam police official working in New Delhi.Most of the trafficked girls and children were from the tea gardens of Udalguri, Sonitpur, Bongaigaon and many other char areas of lower Assam. They were taken to Delhi with the help of local agents. Cases of trafficking are less in the upper Assam districts like Dibrugarh, Sivasagar and Jorhat, said a top Assam police official.A top official of the state police said they have already urged the Delhi government to formulate some strict guidelines for the placement agencies operating in the capital state to follow. Many of the agencies, he said, have been running women trafficking network under the camouflage of placement service.

“While the trafficked children are placed as domestic helps and in a number of fish packaging industries, the beautiful girls are forced to marry some Haryanvi or Punjabi men. A lot of such examples are with us,” said Rishi Kant, a child rights activist of a New Delhi-based NGO, Shakti Vahini. Several instances of selling Assam girls in some suburban brothels in Delhi and Mumbai have come to light, the police said. “We have been sheltering seven girls in our city shelter home. They were rescued from Mumbai, Delhi and some other metropolitan cities since January this year. All of them were victims of false marriage,” said Kaberi Sharma, assistant general secretary of a Guwahatibased NGO, Global Organisation for Life Development (GOLD).

36 Delhi-based placement firms on police radar

]]> http://shaktivahini.org/shakti-vahini-2/36-delhi-based-placement-firms-on-police-radar/feed 0 http://shaktivahini.org/shakti-vahini-2/court-asks-govt-to-probe-into-cwc-functioning http://shaktivahini.org/shakti-vahini-2/court-asks-govt-to-probe-into-cwc-functioning#comments Sun, 13 May 2012 15:53:28 +0000 ravikantsv http://shaktivahini.org/?p=765

PROSECUTING TRAFFICKERS - BREAKING THE ORGANISED CRIME

PTI NEWS / OUTLOOK

The functioning of Child Welfare Committee (CWC) has come under the scrutiny of a Delhi court which directed the city government to look into the allegation as to how the committee had released the minor girls, who were victims of human trafficking, to their relatives. The court’s order came in a case pertaining to the raids conducted by the Crime Branch of the Delhi police and an NGO at various placement agencies here last year from where many girls, including minors, were recovered and their custody was handed over to the CWC. The NGO ‘Shakti Vahini’ had recently told the court that the girls have been released by the CWC without its consultation and the victims have again been pushed to work as maids, while one of the girls has also been raped by a placement agency official.

 ”As an immediate measure, I hereby direct that a copy of the application along with its annexure placed before this court, be forwarded to the director of Department of Women and Child Development and also to the secretary, Social Welfare Department, GNCT, Delhi, who will look into the allegations involved and shall inform this court with regard to the remedial measures taken at their ends,” Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Kamini Lau said. The court also said as per available records, the issue raised by the NGO appears to be genuine and it cannot be ignored due to the seriousness of the matter.

 ”Prima facie, the grievances of the NGO (Shakti Vahini) appears to be genuine and it is writ large that the rescued children are being again pushed back into placement at various places through other agencies.”The entire purpose of the rescue and rehabilitation as contemplated under the act appears to be defeated,” it said. During the hearing, NGO Director Subir Roy and one of its official Rishi Kant, had said they were aggrieved with the CWC’s decision which refused to provide any restoration information about the rescued girls and due to lack of details, they were finding it difficult in tracing the children.

 The NGO had also apprised the court that many of the children rescued by them were given by the CWC to their relatives who have again pushed them back to the same work.”Some of those girls have not been found till date on account of which we are unable to provide any help to victims so that they could depose before the court,” the NGO said.Out of the rescued girls so far, only four have appeared before the court to record their testimonies after several reminders to the CWC.

 The court noted that a minor, who was earlier rescued, is again back to work through another placement agency and in the last hearing, she was brought to the court by her employers.”How the minor witness, who at the time of recovery, had disclosed her address as that of Bangladesh was released to some relative rather than being handed over to the FRRO for deportation?,” the court asked the CWC.It also said due coordination with the NGO in terms of the provisions of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act should be ensured for rehabilitation of rescued children and they should also be produced in the court at the time of recording of witnesses statements.

 PTI NEWS / OUTLOOK

In April, after yet another story of maid abuse came out in the open, a news magazine ran a cover story titled, ‘The new slaves’. While many would cringe at the thought of equating domestic workers with slaves, unfortunately that is exactly how many families treat their domestic help, taking  advantage of a crowded labour market, lack of a credible support system for the help, weak implementation of criminal laws and a tardy justice delivery system.

The patently unequal relationship that exists between a domestic worker and her employer will hopefully see some change if the Cabinet passes the first-ever national policy for domestic workers. The policy hopes to bring domestic workers under seven existing laws: the minimum wages Act, trade union Act, payment of wages Act, workmen’s compensation Act, maternity benefit Act, contract labour Act and equal remuneration Act.

While we wait for the Cabinet approval for this policy, on Thursday, the Cabinet passed another Bill that seeks to rectify the domestic employee-employer relationship: the sexual harassment at the workplace Bill. Domestic workers — according to estimates, there are 90 million domestic workers in India — have been included as part of the Bill for the first time.

While the Centre has been trying to bring in an over-arching law to shield domestic workers from abuse, thanks to years of campaigning by NGOs, some states have already initiated legislation.

For instance, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have included domestic workers in the legal provisions for minimum wage; Tamil Nadu has included domestic work in the manual labour Act and also has a Domestic Workers’ Welfare Board.

The domestic workers’ issue is not just about their abuse by their employers. Behind every domestic worker, there is a string of sub-stories: dwindling economic opportunities in rural areas, migration, child and women trafficking and disregard on the part of the authorities of the constitutional rights of these people.

For example, while children enjoy the right to education, 12.6 million don’t go to school because they work as domestic help. And those who engage them are flouting labour laws because they are employing under-age children. Of the 12.6 million children who work as domestics, 86% are girls and 25% of them are below 14. The other problem is that the agencies that supply domestic help are often fly-by-night operators.

In Delhi alone, only 269 of the approximately 2, 300 agencies are registered. Therefore, the issue of abuse of domestic help should not be seen as a human relationship problem but a full blown law and order problem that can only be dealt with by implementing the law effectively.

The Union home ministry has told all states not to prosecute any foreign prostitute caught in a raid in the country but repatriate her to her country unless there is concrete proof that she is a trafficker.The development comes after many girls from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan and even European countries were arrested in high-profile raids in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore lately.

They were all involved in flesh trade. These girls travelled to India on tourist visas.In a memo sent to all states on May 1, the home ministry has directed that foreign nationals apprehended on charges of human trafficking should be treated in line with the SAARC convention.

The memo says the decision has the ‘competent authority’s’ approval – who can either be the home secretary or the home minister. Presently, foreign prostitutes are booked for both immoral trafficking and under the Foreigners Act. According to the memo signed by joint secretary (foreigners) GVV Verma, foreign prostitutes should neither be booked for immoral trafficking nor under the Foreigners Act if their interrogation shows they are victims of trafficking and not traffickers.

Even if the women don’t have a valid passport or visa but the probe shows they are victims, they should be repatriated to the country of their origin, the memo says. The memo comes into effect retrospectively as the ministry wants states to drop all the cases where a chargesheet has already been filed against foreign escorts under the Foreigners Act or other laws.

Rishi Kant, from NGO Shakti Vahini, welcomed the move. Foreign nationals come here on tourist visas as part of dancing troupes and get into flesh trade. It’s an international racket. ‘It’s important that instead of targeting just the victims, the actual traffickers are arrested,’ he said.

AMAN SHARMA IN THE DAILY MAIL UK

Girl rescued from brothel returns from Bengal to depose before court

DEVESH PANDEY IN THE HINDU

Almost two years after being rescued from a red-light area of the Capital, where she was sold to a brothel owner by human traffickers, a minor girl has travelled all the way back from West Bengal to seek justice for the physical and mental torture she was subjected to. Unlike a large number of human trafficking victims, who after being rescued go missing, the girl has come back to depose before a city court as a witness, hoping to see the culprits behind bars.

Vishakha (name changed) also plans to move a public interest litigation in the Supreme Court seeking directions for making mandatory the examination of all the victims like her through video-conferencing, so that they are not made to come in person from far off places to testify in court. “The victim will also approach the apex court for compensation to all victims of sex trafficking. As of now, there is no detailed guideline for compensation in such cases,” said her lawyer Ravi Kant.

The girl who was kidnapped from South 24 Parganas is still living under the threat of being targeted by her kidnappers. “A few days ago, they pelted stones at my house late at night to scare us. My father then lodged a complaint with the local police seeking action against them. They have been regularly issuing threats to me and my family. We are constantly living in terror, because of which I seldom venture out and am unable to even resume my studies. In fact, we have put a photograph of the lady police inspector, who had rescued me, in our house to ward off the traffickers,” said Vishakha.

It was in July 2010 that Vishakha was kidnapped by two acquaintances of one of her friends. “I went out along with my friend to a fair, where two young men joined us. We then went to her residence, where I was kept in confinement and the next day I was forced to board a Delhi-bound train at the Howrah railway station. They took me to the red-light area and handed me over to a woman, who tortured me physically when I refused to comply with her demands,” she alleged. The girl was then raped several times.

Vishakha’s plight only came to light after she narrated her woes to a client requesting him to contact her family. “He informed my parents regarding my whereabouts, following which they contacted the Kamla Market police station,” said the victim. Back home, her parents had already got an abduction case registered.

“The area Station House Officer immediately formed a team and rescued the girl. The brothel owner and another female accused were subsequently arrested. While both the accused are now out on bail, the male accused still remains at large,” said a representative of non-government organisation Shakti Vahini, which was also involved in the operation.

Recounting the harrowing experience, the girl said soon after being rescued from “hell”, she landed up at a shelter home where she was ill-treated by the staff. “A woman officer would scold me often without reason. Apparently they did not have enough plates, because of which three or four of us had to eat in the same plate. We were made to cook food ourselves; the rice provided to us was all rotten and there was not enough water for the inmates,” she alleged.

“In most cases, after a brief stay at shelter homes, the victims are sent back to their family without any State support and they are left on their own to suffer. Most States have no rehabilitation and compensation scheme in place and many victims, a large number of them minors, who have suffered grave fundamental rights violations are left on their own,” said Mr. Ravi Kant.

Incidentally, in reply to a question raised by Rajya Sabha MP Upendra Kushwaha, the Union Home Ministry on Wednesday informed that seven girls had been rescued from the red-light area of G.B. Road and eight persons arrested in 2010, 26 victims rescued and 16 arrested in 2011 and 15 girls rescued and four accused arrested so far this year.

Plans to move a PIL for making the examination of all the victims like her through video conferencing mandatory

DEVESH PANDEY IN THE HINDU

State in a fix: Who to hand over children to?

ADITI TANDON IN THE TRIBUNE

Even as investigations are on into the modus operandi of Superna Sethi, who ran the now shut Gurgaon shelter home where minors were sexually abused for over a year, the district administration today faced an altogether new challenge. “Who should the children be handed over to?” was the question that baffled the state government authorities, which met here today to discuss the way forward for around 19 girls that resided in the shelter home in Wazirabad.

After reports of exploitation of children came out, parents of at least five girls turned up at the meeting called by Gurgaon’s Deputy Commissioner today to seek custody of their children. None of them however had the proof that children belonged to them.

“Unless we know for a fact that the child being pointed to is the biological child of the parent concerned, we can’t hand him or her over to that parent. We have ordered a full fledged home verification of each child to ensure they don’t land in unsafe hands,” the district authorities told The Tribune. The social activists who are part of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights team probing the case today said the predicament was strange and unheard of.

“This is what happens when you allow systems to run without any modicum of monitoring. The owner of the shelter home was housing children in an ad hoc manner. She has no proof of which child belongs to whom. Tomorrow if children were to go missing from this place, there would be no accountability of anyone. Parents who came today were returned because they could not furnish any proof of the children belonging to them. In the absence of proof, the state is obliged to keep the children,” said Rishi Kant of Shakti Vahini.

The children have now been housed in another Gurgaon shelter home called ‘Aarushi’ run by the Salam Balak Trust.

ADITI TANDON IN THE TRIBUNE

NEW DELHI: In a late-night operation which lasted over three hours on Wednesday against alleged human traffickers, a special team of the West Bengal CID and personnel from the crime branch of Delhi Police and west and central districts rescued a 16-year-old girl from the clutches of her captors from Begumpur in west Delhi. The minor girl had gone missing from her village in South 24-Parganas in West Bengal on April 15 last year.

One Azhar was arrested near the Rithala Metro station in northwest Delhi. Though cops denied it, locals claimed there was a brief shootout before the accused was nabbed. Cops said that Azhar is involved in trafficking young girls from eastern and other parts of India and he has been doing it for the past 12 years. “Though the case is in the initial stage of investigation, we believe that the accused is involved in at least 40 cases of trafficking,” said a senior police officer.

According to sources, the team was helped by NGO Shakti Vahini, which gave police some crucial leads. “Two of our girls even posed as decoys and intercepted the girl,” said Rishi kant, a social activist heading the operations of the NGO. Cops said that the ‘lead’ in their search for the minor came after they arrested one Kalam from Park Street area in Kolkata. “We looked for her in several places in Delhi, including G B Road, Nanakpura and Prashant Vihar. It was on Azhar’s instance that we managed to rescue the minor,” said a source in the crime branch.

In her statement to the police, the minor said she was lured by one Alam and brought to Delhi where he allegedly sold her to Azhar. The accused then sold her to one Kadir alias Raju. It was at Raju’s residence that the girl was rescued, but Raju managed to give police the slip.

However, the Kolkata police could not immediately take back the girl and produce her before the Calcutta high court. “When the girl was produced before the Child Welfare Committee at Kingsway Camp in north Delhi, she was sent to a child protection centre – Nirmal Chhaya – near Tihar Jail. A separate application will have to be filed by West Bengal police before Nirmal Chhaya in order to take her back home. The girl has been sent for a medical examination.

Meanwhile, the accused Azhar has been granted two days’ custody to West Bengal police, which will take him back to the state on a transit remand. A case under sections 363 (kidnapping), 366 (kidnapping a woman to compel her to marry) and 372 (selling or letting to hire a minor for purposes of prostitution) of the IPC has been registered.

The disappearance of the minor stepdaughter of Johara Begum on April 15, 2009, had forced the West Bengal police to acknowledge before the Calcutta high court that over 2,500 teenaged girls had gone missing from Bengal last year, apparently due to rampant trafficking.

The Calcutta high court had earlier directed the West Bengal police to produce the girl before it on November 12 this year. In the latest order, the court had directed that the girl be produced before it by December 7 after a haebus corpus was filed against the DGP concerned. The division bench headed by Chief Justice Jaynarayan Patel issued the order after the mother of the girl, Johra Bibi, appeared in the court and said the CID had not acted properly on the missing complaint filed by her. She had alleged that some of her relatives and neighbours, whom she had named in the FIR, had forcibly taken her daughter away.

The division bench, however, asked why the CID failed to trace the girl when her mother had named seven persons in the FIR and directed the DGP to produce her before it on November 12. After the girl had gone missing from Balikhal village in South 24-Parganas on April 15, 2009, her mother lodged a missing complaint the next day. With police failing to act on her complaint, the family filed a writ petition in the high court in May 2009 alleging that police did not take proper action to trace her.

In her statement to the police, the minor said she was lured by one Alam and brought to Delhi where he allegedly sold her to Azhar. The accused then sold her to one Kadir alias Raju.

DWIPAYAN GHOSH IN THE TIMES OF INDIA