Shillong, Mar 20: The citizens of Meghalaya are facing a troubling question: why have the police, both in Delhi and the state, not filed an FIR regarding the trafficking of two minor girls? The alarming lack of action against a local trafficker, a woman known to the victims, raises serious concerns about the effectiveness of law enforcement in this critical situation.
The case revolves around two girls, one 15 years old and the other 18, who were enticed from their village in East Jaintia Hills. Despite the serious nature of their circumstances—trafficking coupled with kidnapping—there is, as of now, no registered FIR or investigation.
Trafficking is a serious crime which carries a heavy penalty and yet there is no FIR or investigation.
This seriousness was underlined by Khasi Students Union (KSU), Delhi unit president Marbiang Khongwir in her video release to the media in Meghalaya. The current case involves not only trafficking but also kidnapping, luring by false promises and demanding ransom. She said that the union are the first responders of girls or families in distress and emphasised the pervasive issue of trafficking in this state, highlighting the need for urgent response from authorities.
The lack of seriousness to book the traffickers and find out about their network, which this case has highlighted, has its reach deep into the remote villages of EJH district of this state. Concerned people spoke to this lackadaisical attitude of the people in authority as appalling as there have been several cases of trafficking of girls from the state to places like Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and other places.
Khongwir pointed out that the two girls were lured by a woman of their own community who lived in Delhi by assuring them that they would be working as domestic help with a salary of Rs.40, 000 per month. It is not clear whether she had come to the village or spoken to them through the phone, but the girls were convinced enough to leave their homes without telling their families.
Khongwir said that that woman, who she did not name, arranged their travel by flight to Delhi. The girls told their families that they were on their way to Delhi only after they had boarded their plane in Guwahati airport on March 16. On landing in Delhi the unidentified woman was there to meet them along with two men, who also remain unidentified. From there the girls whisked away to Manesar, a town about 2 hours from Delhi and left there in a spa where they were expected to massage men in addition to doing sex work. When the girls discovered that they had been conned as their job was not that of domestic help in a normal home, but they were to work as massage girls along with sex work. The shock made them desperate and they started crying. They called their families and told them of their situation. The brothel owner agreed to release them on payment of money. It is believed that this demand goes to show that the woman who trafficked them to that place had actually sold them to the brothel/spa.
Meanwhile, as per Khongwir’s statement, she had received a call seeking help from a man from East Jaintia Hills to find and rescue the two girls who had gone to Delhi and were in danger.
That was when the KSU Delhi unit swung into action by alerting the Special Police Unit for North Eastern Region and together they had gone to the brothel to rescue the girls. The brothel owner was adamant that the girls should pay her for their release but the presence of the police forced her to tone down her aggressive demand.
One of the points which were highlighted by the KSU Delhi Unit office bearers is that according to SPUNER’s records Meghalaya state accounts for 60 per cent of the women and girls rescued from brothels in the last two years. And even more alarming is that they pointed out that the majority of girls so trafficked and rescued come from the East Jaintia Hills district, which has a near permanent place in the news headlines as the coal rich district of the state.
The figures are so alarming that Khongwir was compelled to give a clarion call to the East Jaintia Hills villages, rangbah shnongs, families, NGOs and local leaders to create awareness among the youth and make sure that when the jobs being offered are genuine. She said that the KSU is always there to help by trying to verify such claims.
Speaking to Highland Post, Khongwir said the KSU had so far made 20 rescues, both reported and unreported in Delhi.
The KSU unit president said, “In some cases the police have been helpful but they take a long time to show up or only show up when calls are made to higher authorities. However, SPUNER is very responsive but due to their limited jurisdiction they can’t do much.”
On problems faced by the KSU Delhi unit when taking up trafficking cases, Khongwir said the union cannot expand or follow up rescue cases due to safety reasons.
Meanwhile, East Jaintia Hills Superintendent of Police Pankaj Rasgania said the rescued minors have reached home and sent for counselling. He said the police are reaching out to the family to file an FIR.
“We will wait, but if no one turns up we will file a suo motu FIR,” Rasgania said.
