Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Sunday said that bringing an end to the menace of human trafficking was one of the top priorities of his Government. In the wake of the recent rescue of six minor girls allegedly trafficked from Gumla, Soren took to microblogging platform Twitter and said that removing the infamy of human trafficking from Jharkhand was a priority for the Government.
“Bringing an end to the menace of human trafficking is our top priority. Please investigate the matter and nab the traffickers involved in the matter,” he said, attaching a cutout of a vernacular daily that had reported about six recently rescued Gumla girls who were tortured by their employers in New Delhi and were now being threatened by traffickers.
The Chief Minister also directed Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police in Gumla to identify vulnerable girls who were prone to fall prey to trafficking agents and educate them. “Provide education and skill development trainings to such girls,” his tweet further said.
Jharkhand has been one of the worst-affected States in India in terms of human trafficking in the past decade. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data says that at least 131 incidents of human trafficking were reported in Jharkhand in 2018 – fourth highest in the country.
However, activists claim that several thousand children, especially tribal girls, are trafficked from the State to metro cities every year on the pretext of jobs, marriage and even education.
A majority of these children, they say, are often subjected to physical and sexual tortures leading to fatal ailments or even suicides. The Crime Investigation Department of Jharkhand police says the number of children who went missing from the State since 2005 stands at 3,838 and 1,281 children remain untraced since the same year.
Many cases of trafficked Jharkhand girls being tortured, raped and brutally beaten up by employers in Delhi have been reported in the past.
The Chief Minister on Sunday directed Gumla police to prioritize the case of rescued girls and ensure speedy investigation in the matter. According to media reports, families of the rescued girls have sought police’s intervention in the matter after traffickers allegedly threatened them. The families have also asked the police to ensure that the girls’ due salaries were paid by the Delhi employers.
Soren on Sunday also asked Child Welfare Committees (CWC), District Child Protection Officers (DCPO) and Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs) to be cautious and sensitive towards such matters in order to prevent recurrence of such incidents in Jharkhand.
The CID too has written to the State Home Department for setting up four new AHTUs – one each in Sahibganj, Godda, Latehar and Pakur. Only eight out of 24 districts in the tribal state have AHTUs, while the remaining 16, including a few that have turned havens for modern day slave traders, entirely rely on the local police for checking, combating and investigating cases of human trafficking.