Six minor girls from Jharkhand who were being brought to the Capital on a train by alleged traffickers were rescued on May 29 after an alert co-passenger, who works as a counsellor at Jharkhand Bhawan in Delhi, notified the authorities.
Nirmala Khalko, who has worked closely with children trafficked from Jharkhand, said she called the authorities, who rescued the minors after the train reached Delhi, after noticing that the children sounded distressed while talking to their parents and spoke in an accent that was distinct from that of the alleged traffickers, who claimed to be the victim’s relatives.
The minors, aged 12 to 17, are presently with a Child Welfare Committee (CWC), and their statements are being recorded for further investigation, a senior police officer said. The girls belong to Gumla and Simdega districts of Jharkhand.
Chance encounter
Ms. Khalko said she, along with the minors and their alleged traffickers, had boarded the Jharkhand Swarna Jayanti Express from Ranchi on May 28. Soon after they took their seats — three minors with a woman in the seat opposite Ms. Khalko’s — in the sleeper coach, the Jharkhand Bhawan official struck up a conversation with her fellow passengers, and subsequenty alerted officials.
Over the next couple of hours, the Jharkhand Bhawan official gathered information about the three minors and learnt that there were three more minors in the compartment. They were rescued when the train reached Anand Vihar railway station, said Ms. Khalko.
The complainant said she noticed the girls sounding distressed while speaking to their parents on call
Published - June 03, 2024 01:55 am IST
