HISAR, July 11 — Teenaged Bangladeshi girls migrating to India illegally are finding ready buyers in several districts of Haryana, including Gurgaon, Panipat, Yamunanagar, Hisar, Fatehabad and Sirsa.

It is learnt that more than 200 such girls have been sold in these areas over the past three years. Though the buyers claim to be married to them, it is learnt that almost all of them have been living in without a formal marriage. Inquiries made from government officers in these districts reveal that no civil marriages had taken place among residents of the villages in which they were living. Residents of the villages concerned reluctantly admitted, on condition of anonymity, that no formal marriages had been solemnised between these girls and the men they were living with.

It is learnt that in Gurgoan, Panipat and Yamunanagar districts youths belonging to a particular community had been gifted these girls by their families after they failed to find proper matches for them in their own community. In these districts both the buyers and the girls practice one religion. However, in Hisar, Fatehabad and Sirsa districts, most of the girls were purchased by middle-aged widowers or those who failed to find a match in their youth. In these cases the girls and their buyers follow different religions.

Neither the girls nor their buyers admit that they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh for obvious reasons. They claim to be Indians hailing from West Bengal, Assam, Madhya Pradesh and even Maharashtra. However, fellow villagers reveal that most of them are Bangladeshis whose families had migrated to India illegally and settled in Maharashtra. Others still have their families in Bangladesh. These girls found their way to Haryana through members of a gang engaged in trading Bangladeshi women.

A local Bengali, who spoke to two of these girls in Khedar village near here, is convinced that these girls are from Bangladesh. He says they use a peculiar Bangladeshi dialect.

The girls do not cost a fortune. Depending on their age and looks, they fetch anything between Rs 10,000 to 25,000. Though most of them have dark complexions, a fairer girl costs more. At times girls are booked in advance against partial payment. The deal is finalised after the girl is brought to India.

Talking to the The Tribune, those involved in the trade at first denied that the girls were sold. They claimed that they were just “social servants” helping poor Bengali women find proper homes instead of climbing the stairs to a brothel. Even after they admitted that they charged money for their services, they maintained that these just covered their expenses. One of them remarked: “Do you think I would sell a teenaged girl for Rs 10,000? Even a brothel owner would give me more for her. But I am not a pimp. And mind it, it is easier to sell a girl to a brothel owner. I am only doing a social service.”