Trafficking in girls alarming in Haryana, Punjab

[Guest mehtab]

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_507922,0008.htm

Trafficking in girls alarming in Haryana, Punjab

Indo-Asian News Service

Rewari (Haryana),, December 25

Trafficking in girls from states like Jharkhand, Assam and West Bengal has assumed alarming proportions in Punjab and Haryana, with girls being traded for less than the price of a buffalo, say police officials.

People are too scared to speak publicly of this phenomenon, but some of them confide that the price for a girl ranges between Rs 5,000 and Rs 15,000, depending on her age and the number of times she has been bought and sold.

Roshanara, from Dhubri in lower Assam, currently living in the Mahila Ashram in Karnal district in Haryana, was sold three times before she was finally rescued by police.

Mohsina, also from Dhubri, was repeatedly raped till police rescued her from the clutches of the local mafia in June. She is pregnant and reluctant to have an abortion.

Police sources said there were at least 5,000 girls from Assam and West Bengal who were purchased and confined in various households in Haryana's Mewat region that comprises Faridabad, Gurgaon and Rewari.

"Women are treated as a saleable commodity here. This is primarily due to abject poverty and social approval," one police official told IANS.

"In fact, the police are yet to fully understand the gravity of the situation and initiate action. It is not a priority subject for us," the officer admitted.

"There

's no doubt trafficking has gone up stupendously from eastern states. An interplay of factors has contributed to this phenomenon."

Another prominent reason is the discrepancy in the sex ratio in Haryana and Punjab, which forces men to "procure" women from outside.

While Haryana has 861 women for 1,000 men, in Punjab the figure is even lower at 768 women for 1,000 men.

Remaining unmarried is a social taboo in these patriarchal societies. In this feudal agrarian belt, men are discarded for marriage if they are not married at a young age, forcing their families to "buy" them brides.

In fact, most of the Assamese and Bengali girls in Rewari were married to men in their 40s.

What has emerged as a new trend in the last decade or so is the "dependence" of villages and districts on particular regions in states from where the girls are brought.

If a majority of girls brought to Haryana come from Assam and Bengal, trafficking to Punjab involves a more formidable network spanning Bengal, Jharkhand and Orissa.

But the trends are different. Men from Haryana choose to buy brides, while girls bought in Punjab are employed as domestic help or work in farms as the state is more dependent on migrant labourers.

So minors who end up being sold are initially lured by agents to venture out of their native places with the prospects of jobs.

"But in the process, as there are too many agents in the fray, the chances of physical abuse and rape are always very high. Those who buy girls may simply decide to give them to somebody else for a higher price," said Mansa district police chief V Neerja.

Neerja recounted the case of a teenaged girl from Gumla in Jharkhand whom police rescued at Nawanshahr after she was raped several times.

"That was the first case I came a

cross of a tribal girl brought to do household job being raped. A rape case was registered after she was medically examined. But people from the villages came to me to say that they did take care of their domestic help and they were never sexually exploited.

"We registered cases of kidnapping against some people who illegally confined these girls."

The blatant exploitation of these girls came to light in Nawanshahr, where Neerja had served earlier, and Hoshiarpur, 100 km from the state capital of Chandigarh when three girls who had been sold for Rs 2,000 each managed to escape their captors.

They narrated their tales before Nawanshahr deputy commissioner S.J.S. Singh.

Nawanshahr police alleged at least two gangs belonging to Bhind village and Fatehpur village in Hoshiarpur district were involved in trafficking the tribal girls, who were lured with a monthly salary of Rs.1,000 to Rs.1,500 and then sold to agents for about Rs.5,000 each.

The agents were allegedly given two months' wages in advance to ensure the girls did not escape.

According to the police, on every Saturday, about 15-20 tribal girls from Jharkhand arrive at the Phillaur railway station in Nawanshahr by Mori Express to be picked up by agents.

But some girls have been married and lead happy lives.

Twenty-year-old Pranati Das, from Hajo in Kamrup district of Assam, left her home without informing her parents who were extremely poor. Her husband Pappu Singh Ahir purchased her for only Rs.10,000.

But she does not repent it.

Pranati now stays in Kufurpur village in Rewari district of Haryana, 300 km from state capital Chandigarh.

"I am happy. Every year we visit Assam and my family has accepted my husband," she said, caressing her six-month-old baby.

"I was promised a good marriage by a man and for me it turned out to be true. I wanted to escape from poverty. Here I am happy. I thank my s

tars for being here and there is no question of going back to Assam."

Sonali Sarkar, a Bengali hailing from Dhekiajuli district in Assam but now settled in the same village, said: "You will find many women like us in almost all the villages in this district. Most of us have learnt the local dialect and have completely assimilated."

However, not every woman is lucky enough to enjoy such a happy life.