New Delhi, (Samajweekly) The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) has issued a notice to Delhi Police after five out of seven Uzbek girls, who had complained about trafficking and sexual exploitation in India, went missing from a private shelter home.
The police said that they have registered an FIR based on the girls’ complaint and arrested three accused persons in connection with the case.
The Uzbek girls had alleged that they were brought to India on the pretext of jobs, but when they arrived here, they were forced into prostitution and sexual slavery.
According to DCW, the girls had informed that while some of them were brought to Delhi via Nepal, others were brought to India directly on tourist and medical visa at different times.
“They alleged that the passports and other documents of those who were brought to Delhi via Nepal were snatched in Nepal itself, while the documents of the others were taken away by the traffickers after their arrival in India,” said a DCW official.
“When they reached India, they were forced into prostitution and when the girls resisted, they were threatened and beaten up. The girls also told the Commission that they were sold to different owners during their stay in Delhi and were raped repeatedly,” said the official.
“The girls had named 10 accused persons, of which seven are yet to be arrested. The girls desperately needed their documents to go back to their country, but the Delhi Police was unable to arrange the same. Also, the girls were sent to a private shelter home and now the commission has learnt that five girls have gone missing from there,” said the DCW official.
The DCW has also asked the police as to why their identity documents, including passports, could not be retrieved from the clutches of the traffickers and returned to the girls.
Meanwhile, DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal has also issued a notice to the private shelter home to understand the circumstances under which the girls had gone missing from there.
“Seven Uzbek girls had exposed a big international racket involving trafficking and sexual slavery. Delhi Police registered an FIR, but all the accused persons were not arrested and the girls’ passports could not be recovered from the traffickers,” she said.
“Now, five of the seven girls have gone missing from the shelter home. I am concerned that the traffickers may have orchestrated this since all of them are yet to be arrested. I have issued summons to Delhi Police,” said Maliwal.
“I want them (Delhi Police) to produce these five girls before the commission, ensure the arrest of all the traffickers and recover the girls’ passports. Strongest action should be taken against such international sex rackets operating in the national capital,” Maliwal added.
