15-year-old girl pushed into sex trade escapes 6 months after abduction

A 15-year-old girl was allegedly abducted from Jaipur, was tormented and pushed into the sex trade during her 6-month confinement, before she escaped the clutches of her kidnappers on Friday.

Amar Singh Rathor,Station House Officer (SHO) of the Anantpura police station said, the minor girl approached the police station Friday morning after having escaped from the confinement from the house of  Gerunath Kalbeliya (40), the accused resident of the Talabbasti area of Kota city.

Singh said the victim told police that her family had moved to Jaipur from Bihar, for work, 3 years ago,when she was allegedly abducted by an unidentified person 6 months ago, from Shastrinagar area of Jaipur.

According to police, the victim was sold to Gerunath for Rs 10,000 who kept her confined in a room of his house in Talabbasti where she was allegedly beaten, kept unfed for days and forced to go to hotels for sex trading.

The SHO further stated that, Gerunath planned to sell the minor girl to someone else , however, the victim managed to flee to a nearby mosque when she found a gate unlocked.

A case has been lodged against Gerunath and the unidentified person for abduction, human trafficking and under sections of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) and arrested Gerunath on Friday,stated the SHO. 2 arrests have been made in connection to the crime. Police are further investigating the case.

Meanwhile, the girl was produced before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC - Bal Kalayan Samiti) where the members of Child Line, an NGO and the CWC sent the girl to a home shelter in Kota.