Trafficking continues despite awareness

Ranchi: Even after 15 years of its creation, Jharkhand is yet to find ways to check the problem of human trafficking. Cases of women and girls, many of them minors, committing suicide, being brutally beaten up or dying under suspicious circumstances in Delhi and neighbouring states after being trafficked, continue unabated over the years. Though awareness on human trafficking has increased a notch above what it was earlier in the government corridors and police stations, the state still has a long way to go.
Recent cases like that of Phulin Kisku, a Sahebganj girl who was found critically injured in a house in the Vasant kunj locality of Delhi in October 2013 and Phoolmani Nagesia who committed suicide at her employer’s house in Ghaziabad in September 2013, stand out in terms of torture and atrocities meted out to the girls who are lured by agents to work outside the state as domestic helps.
CID IG Sampat Meena said, “The awareness level among police has increased and officers are now taking these cases seriously, which why the number of FIRs registered has gone up over the years. We are continuously organizing training sessions for officers in the police department to make them aware about various laws related to children.” From just two FIRs registered in 2001 the number has come up to 147 in 2014. However, the CID records say the number of FIRs lodged in such cases in the last 15 years is 528, which according to experts working in this field is very less compared to the number of girls being trafficked from the state.
Sanjay Mishra state coordinator of Action against Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation of Children (ATSEC) said, “According to our survey around 30,000 girls are trafficked from the state every year. Awareness has certainly increased, but FIRs cannot be the only source to determine the number of girls being trafficked from state.” He added, “Parents think twice before lodging FIRs because they are unsure about the treatment they will get at police stations or that in most cases the trafficker is a close relative of the victim.”
Activists also claim that while the police have become active and sensitive over the years, the social welfare department is still not taking the problem seriously. Social activist Baidnath Kumar said, “In the last 15 years, not a single shelter home has been constructed and made functional by the department. If the children are not rehabilitated, chances of re-trafficking increase.” However, secretary of women and child development and social welfare department Vinay Choubey refuted the charges. “The department has sanctioned new shelter homes under Integrated the Child Protection Scheme, which will start functioning by the end of this year. Eleven new NGO-run-shelter homes will be started in Ranchi, Bokaro, West Singhbum, Sahibganj, Hazaribag, Dumka, Giridih, Garhwa, Jamtara, East Singhbhum and Koderma,” he said.