Post date: Oct 13, 2012 2:8:22 PM
Police and officials of child welfare department in Gumla district of India's easternJharkhand state rescue seven girls from the net of human trafficking.
GUMLA, JHARKHAND, INDIA (OCTOBER 13, 2012) (ANI) - Police and officials of child welfare department in Gumla district of India's eastern Jharkhand state rescued seven girls from the net of human trafficking on Saturday (October 13).
Gumla police said that cases of human trafficking were escalating in the district as unemployment and children exploitation has been rampant."The issue of human trafficking, especially in Gumla district is very serious. Two main reasons for this are, girls and boys of this district get caught in the net of pimps and are sold off. Secondly, there are few employment opportunities in this district. When police officials are informed of any case, we catch and imprison the pimps and girls are rescued and sent back to their parents. But as there are no employment opportunities here, they again get exploited by pimps and sometimes the pimps are their family members." Said Anil Kumar Karna, incharge
Child welfare officials confirmed that middlemen or pimps in the district had established a close knit business to trade off girls and boys in the region to cities like New Delhi or Mumbai.
Victims of human trafficking are sold off in metropolitan cities to work as house maids or are forced to become sex workers.
Some of the most powerful figures in India's political history are women, such as former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her daughter-in-law, Sonia Gandhi, who heads the ruling Congress-led coalition government and there are over one million female politicians represented in village councils.
Yet the country's women continue to face a plethora of threats - from female foeticide, child marriage, dowry and honour killings to discrimination in health and education and crimes such as rape, domestic violence and human trafficking.
Many of the crimes against women are in India's heavily populated northern plains, where, in parts, there is a deep-rooted mindset that women are inferior and must be restricted to being homemakers and childbearers.
In addition, age-old customs such as payment of hefty dowries at the time of marriage and beliefs linking a female's sexual behaviour to family honour have made girls seem a burden.