Cheated and trafficked: Minor girls forced into sex trade in Bengaluru-OxBig News Network

Tara (name changed), 17, was residing with her grandmother in Kushtia district in Bangladesh before her life took a turn for the worse.

Tara’s mother was a commercial sex worker who had been in Bengaluru for 15 years. After her grandmother’s death, Tara moved in with her maternal aunt in Bangladesh. The maternal aunt secured Tara’s engagement with a local boy, but the marriage was called off. Then, Tara’s mother, with the help of her sister (the girl’s maternal aunt) and a trafficking agent Laltu, smuggled her daughter over the border into India, and then into Bengaluru.

Her mother and Laltu forced Tara into the sex trade and were sending her to multiple pimps. One of the many pimps was Sampa Begum alias Kajol, who was forcing Tara into sex trade at a brothel in Byadarahalli.

She was among the 13 minor girls rescued by the Central Crime Branch (CCB), who, in association with two city-based NGOs, cracked down on brothels and rescued minor girls. The police also arrested 26 persons, who were part of the racket, and booked them under POCSO and human trafficking acts.

“It was a complex operation. The two NGOs kept a watch on these illegal activities for over two months to gather evidence,” a senior police officer told The Hindu.

The operation was initiated after one of the NGOs received a tip off about a minor girl being forced into commercial sex work.

On May 16, one of the NGO staff, with the help of the CCB team, conducted surveillance at one of the brothels. However, they could not confirm the presence of a minor.

The NGO kept up its vigil. Its suspicion was confirmed. Three days later, a team of NGO staff and CCB went to Byadarahalli and raided the brothel and rescued two victims — one minor and an adult. The police arrested the accused, Muneer and his wife Sampa Begum, along with the customer.

Tara tipped off the police about the location of another pimp, who the police pursued. Tara was admitted to the Government Children’s Home for Girls.

The NGO, which was part of the rescue team, was asked to help with her rehabilitation. Tara was overjoyed to use a computer for the first time during her stay in the children’s home. She wants to learn more. She is also interested in music and knows how to play a few musical instruments. Recently, she was transferred to a private child care institute (CCI) where she has enrolled in tailoring and beautician courses. Tara’s ambition is to go back to Bangladesh and use her new skills to make a living.

The ugly truth

The police say this is a well-oiled racket run by multiple agents as the demand for minor girls among customers is on the rise. Three out of 13 rescued victims are from Bangladesh, and came to the city via the porous border. This was facilitated by a group of people who trafficked girls from Bangladesh to India for sex trade.

Following the raid, the network has shifted their bases to neighbouring States, but they will be back after some time due to the high demand, the police officials added.

As per police’s statistics , the city is witnessing an increase in crimes against women and children. If we look at two specific markers, immoral trafficking of women and POCSO, these have risen significantly from 2021 to 2023.

 
The city police booked 129 cases under the Immoral Trafficking Act in 2021. The number of cases rose to 155 in 2022, and 161 in 2023 – an increase of 25 % from 2021 to 2023.

For the same period, the city police booked 403 cases under POCSO Act in 2021, 480 cases in 2022, and 560 cases in 2023. The cases under POCSO Act have risen by 39% from 2021 to 2023.

The accused in the crime have been booked under different sections, including human trafficking, immoral trafficking and POCSO to ensure maximum punishment for the accused in the case. 

Tragic stories of minors trapped in sex trade

Based on the tip off by Tara, the police raided another brothel at Anepalya in Ashok Nagar, and rescued a 16-year-old girl.

The victim, Priya (name changed), told the police that she is from Punjab and studying in class 10. She narrated to the police how she had been passed on from one pimp to another.

She was lured by a group of local habitual offenders in Punjab, who trapped minor girls promising love and marriage, and pushed into the sex trade, she told the rescue team. A trafficker named Deep pretended to love Priya and got her to elope with him to Bengaluru a month before the raid. He sold her to Nita Kaur, a brothel owner, who in turn sold Priya to another pimp named Pooja.

Pooja forced Priya into the sex trade. Pooja alias Shobha Das, who has now been arrested, had threatened Priya not to ever talk about the trade or her role in it. As Priya had run away from home to be with Deep, she had no hope of rescue, till the brothel was raided.

Meanwhile, the victim’s parents had filed a missing person’s complaint in Punjab and had been searching for her. Priya was reunited with her parents after the rescue. The victim gave her statement against the accused and demanded strict action, the police official added.

The Punjab police have arrested Deep, and he is currently in prison. The victim is now back in Punjab and has resumed her school. Through a local partner, the rescue team is monitoring the victim and providing online counselling. Priya aspires to join the Indian army and serve the country.

Too many tragic twists

In another case, the CCB team conducted a raid at a brothel in Parappana Agrahara and found that a minor girl had been re-trafficked. The minor, Gita (name changed), was trafficked by her friend Mahi and her husband Akash. They conned her by sending her to Bengaluru from Tripura for ‘a job in a beauty parlour’.

After she came to Bengaluru, she was forced into the sex trade. While she was in the sex trade, she fell in love with Manoj. He took her home with him. However, in a tragic twist, Manoj’s mother Sonu alias Savita (also an accused in this case) forced Gita into the sex trade.

Gita was rescued by the Begur police on a tip off. The police, however, thought she was above 18 years, and Gita was sent to the State Home for Women. Later, a man claiming to be Gita’s father submitted her actual age proof documents to the court. The victim was then produced in the Child Welfare Committee, and through a court order released to the father.

The ‘father’ left Gita with the accused, who pushed her into prostitution again. The CCB, which got information about Gita, raided the brothel and rescued the minor girl.

Gita, hailing from Tripura, doesn’t have a good relationship with her family. Her family might be part of the crime, which is being probed, according to the police. The police said that the victim is currently in a children’s home. She is healing and recovering from the trauma. Gita is learning to use the computer, stitching and dance.

Mother pushes girl into prostitution to take care of siblings

In another case, the CCB team followed an auto driver while he was ferrying a victim and her mother to a customer’s house. They discovered that the mother had sold her minor daughter to a pimp. At the customer’s house, the police team arrested the customers, the auto driver, the mother, and rescued the minor victim Meena (name changed)

The CCB probe revealed that the victim is 16 years and is from Bengaluru. She is a high school student. She has five sisters and three brothers. Meena got emotional as she narrated her story to the rescue team. After Meena’s father’s death, their uncle took away the footwear shop that was owned by her father, and Meena’s family did not have enough money to survive. Meena’s mother has diabetes, and they were unable to even buy her medicines.

Meena’s mother asked her to get into the sex trade to support the family. She did not tell Meena about the actual nature of work. Meena only realised what she was getting into after her first day at work. But she continued due to the pathetic situation of her family. She told the police that her mother handled all the money transactions with the pimps. Meena was clueless about how much money she earned. However, it was her income that paid for the medical bills, rent, and daily expenses, for the last one year.

“Meena is now being rehabilitated at the children’s home. She is finally beginning to find hope and a chance to be like other girls of her age,” the police officer said.

In a similar case, the police and the NGO team rescued a minor girl from Kengeri.

The victim, Ramya (name changed), is a 15-year-old girl from T. Narasipura in Mysuru district. She had completed her class 9. As it was difficult to pay the fees, she had to drop out of school. She has four siblings – two older sisters, a younger sister, and a brother. Her mother, Manjula, works as a housekeeper, and also sells vegetables. Her father works, but is an alcoholic who doesn’t support his family.

Her second sister had to undergo a kidney surgery, and the family took a large loan to pay for that, Ramya told the NGO staff. To repay the loan, Ramya’s mother, Manjula sent her into the sex trade through a distant relative. Now, she is staying in the Children’s Home for Girls, and the NGO team is supporting her healing through case work and counselling.

The police have attributed the rise in number of cases to enhanced awareness, initiatives of filing suo moto cases, and registration of e-FIRs, among other factors. The CCB officials have stepped up vigil and issued strict instructions to the jurisdictional police. The station in-charge have been directed to be sensible and sensitive in handling child sex trafficking cases, and have zero tolerance towards any such activity.

Additional Commissioner of Police, Crime, Chandragupta, who supervised the recent rescue operation, said, “Cracking down on human trafficking for immoral activities, especially involving minor girls, is our top priority. The bigger responsibility is to rehabilitate and keep a tab on these victims and the accused to ensure that such activities do not re-surface. The focus is on rooting out the social evil rather than punitive action.”

“People should actively help the police to fight this social evil, which is causing a stain on a progressive and educated society,” he emphasised.