look news india
A very sensational and shocking case of human trafficking and forced child marriage has come to light from Gumla district of Jharkhand. A poor and helpless minor girl from Gumla was trapped in the trap of smugglers and taken to Rajasthan and sold to a middle-aged man for just Rs 20,000. Where the minor was forcibly married to that middle-aged man and he was kept hostage. Somehow, escaping from the clutches of the accused and saving her life, the victim reached her home district Gumla and directly knocked on the door of the police station and narrated her painful ordeal. Even the police officers were shocked to hear the story of the victim, after which, taking immediate cognizance, an FIR was registered in the matter and a special team was formed to arrest the accused.
The victim, a resident of a remote rural area of Gumla district, said in her written complaint and statement given to the police that some middlemen and human traffickers known to her from the village had lured her with the promise of good work and a better life. After falling prey to the financially strapped family, the smugglers secretly took the minor to a remote village in Rajasthan. There the accused sold him to a middle-aged man above 40-45 years of age for just Rs 20 thousand. After this, the minor was forcibly married without her consent. When he refused, he was beaten and not allowed to leave the house.
The minor girl living as a hostage in Rajasthan was looking for a chance to escape from there for several days. One day when the family members had gone out for some work, the victim gathered courage and quietly ran away from there. Traveling by local bus and train and after several days of struggle, she managed to reach her home district Gumla safely. As soon as she reached Gumla, the victim along with her family went to the local women’s police station and narrated her entire ordeal of brutality, horse-trading and physical-mental torture to the police officers present there. Hearing the statement of the victim, there was panic in the police department.
Considering the sensitivity and seriousness of the matter, on the instructions of Gumla Superintendent of Police (SP), a case has been registered against the accused middlemen, smugglers and the middle-aged man from Rajasthan under serious sections of the POCSO Act, Human Trafficking and Child Marriage Prohibition Act. Police officials said that the medical examination of the victim is being conducted and the process of recording her statement under Section 164 in the court is being completed. Along with this, a special team of Gumla Police is being sent to the concerned district of Rajasthan so that all the criminals associated with this nefarious network can be arrested.
Amidst the incidents in Seraikela and Ranchi, this incident in Gumla has once again proved how active and fearless the gang of human smugglers has become in the poor and tribal dominated areas of Jharkhand. Cases of minor girls being sold on the pretext of employment and false dreams are continuously coming to light in states like Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi. Local social activists and public representatives have demanded from the police administration that not only the middlemen but also the main interstate racket involved in trafficking of girls in Rajasthan should be exposed and proper security and rehabilitation arrangements should be made available to the victims.