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Indias Extensive Railways Often Conduit for Child Trafficking — Global Issues


Children working and traveling on India’s vast rail network need to be educated about the risks of being trafficked. Credit: Umar Manzoor Shah/IPS
  • by Umar Manzoor Shah (Karnataka, India)
  • Associated Press Service

Four months ago, a man in his fifties visited them. Pretending to be a businessman from the Indian capital Delhi, he first expressed his disappointment at his family’s dire conditions. Then he offered to help. The man asks Deepti if she would like to go with him to Delhi, where he can find her a decent job as a salesman or domestic helper. He also told Deepti’s mother that if allowed to come to Delhi, her daughter would be able to earn no less than 15 to 20 000 rupees a month—about $200-300.

Deepti’s mother reasoned that the money would be enough to lift the family out of poverty and deprivation, enough to plan Deepti’s wedding and say goodbye to the hard work of selling paperback books on trains. running.

On the scheduled day, as the man was about to take Deepti away, a laborer whose family lived adjacent to her hut informed the police of the possibility of human trafficking. The worker became suspicious after observing that the representative regularly visited mother and daughter.

When the police arrived on the scene and arrested the agent, it was discovered during interrogation that he was planning to sell the little girl to a brothel in Delhi.

Ramesh, a 14-year-old boy from the same state, shares a similar predicament. He recounted how a man, perhaps in his early 40s, offered his parents a large sum of money so that he could be adopted and cared for.

“My parents are workers, so they agree. I was going with a man – whom we had met a few days ago. I was told that I would get a good education, a good life and loving parents. I wonder how a strange man can offer us such things at such a fast rate. I told my parents that I smelled something suspicious,” Ramesh recalls.

The next day, when the man came to pick up the boy, locals, including Ramesh’s parents, questioned him. “We called the government helpline number and the team arrived in about 20 minutes. When questioned, the man spilled beans. He is about to sell the boy in some Middle Eastern country and make a large sum of money for himself. We could lose our baby forever,” Ramesh’s father said.

According to government data, a child disappears every eight minutes in India.

Up to 11,000 of the 44,000 young people reported missing each year are still missing. In many cases, low-income children and parents who were promised “greener pastures” in the urban homes of the wealthy end up being underpaid, mistreated. and sometimes sexually abused.

Trafficking in persons is banned in India as a fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution, but it is still an organized crime. Trafficking in persons is a secret crime that often goes unreported to police, and experts believe significant policy changes are needed to prevent and help victims recover.

Activists and members affiliated with the Diocesan Social Services Association of Belgaum (BDSSS) run various child protection programs for children from poor backgrounds.

One such program is ‘Childline 1098 Collab’. A dedicated helpline has been established to help children in need. The helpline phone number is widely circulated throughout the city so that if anyone encounters any child rights violations, they can dial the number.

A rescue team will be dispatched to provide immediate assistance to the victim.

Father Peter Asheervadappa, director of a social service called the Social Service Association of the Diocese of Belgaum, provides emergency relief and rescue services to high-risk children. Children and other citizens can dial 1098 toll-free and the team will be in touch within 60 minutes to rescue the children.

“The cases are handled differently: Sexual abuse, physical abuse, child labor, marriage and any other abuse that affects the health of children,” Asheervadappa said. tell IPS.

He added that India’s rail network, one of the largest in the world, consists of 7,321 stations, 123,542 km of tracks and 9,143 trains daily, carrying more than 23 million people.

“The vast network, vital to the survival of the country, is regularly used to traffic children. For this reason, our organization and others like it have argued that major train stops need special programs and attention. Such transit centers serve as important access points for finding and helping children when they need it most, he said.

But it’s not just human trafficking that occurs in these locations. There are also child marriages that concern activists.

Rashmi, 13, was nearly sold to a middle-aged businessman in a nearby city. In return, the rich man will take good care of the poor family and meet their daily needs. All they had to do was hand over their daughter to them. They agreed. “Everybody wants to have a good life, but that doesn’t mean you sacrifice your child’s life for that greed. It is immoral, unethical and illegal,” said activist Abhinav Prasad* involved with the Child Protection Program.

He says many people in India are looking for child brides. They often encourage their efforts in slums and areas inhabited by the poor. There, they find people in need, and they take advantage of their desperation to make money.

While Rashmi was about to marry a man almost four times her age (50 years old), some neighbors called the children’s rescue team and informed them. The team rushed to the scene and called the police to stop the ceremony from taking place.

“Child marriage is rampant in India, but we have to do our part. It is through these small efforts that we can stop the threat from spreading its terrible wings and eating our children,” Prasad said.

*Not real name. Report of the UN IPS Office


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© Inter Press Service (2022) — All rights reservedOrigin: Inter Press Service

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