M A I N   N E W S

Girl bazaar thrives in Doaba area
Poonam Batth
Tribune News Service

Nawanshahr, August 18
The conviction of a truck driver for trading girls from Bangladesh and West Bengal in Jalandhar district and a recent case of the sale of three tribal girls in Nawanshahr, is an indicator that the “girl bazaar” is flourishing in the Doaba region.

Ramesh, a truck driver, had lured two sisters — Tumpa and Rumpa, hailing from Panchnatal in Hoogly district of West Bengal — to Punjab on the pretext of getting them married to Punjabi youths. He was caught while trying to sell them. The court sentenced him to a rigorous imprisonment for 14 years and imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on him. Two of his accomplices, Harmesh Singh and Tarsem Singh, were sentenced to a 10-year jail term.

Ramesh would have succeeded in his mission if the police had not cracked down on those indulging in the trafficking of women in the Jalandhar-Nawanshahr area. Many feel that police action is not enough to check the “social sanction” that this trend enjoys.

Many of these poor girls are brought from the backwaters of Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar and even far off places like Coochbehar in West Bengal and Assam and sold here. Inquiries reveal that middlemen from this area spend money and travel long distances to bring the girls here on one pretext or the other. The promises range from getting them good jobs as domestic help or farm hand to marrying them off to affluent Punjabi men.

While their people actually believe that the girls are leaving home for a better life, destiny has something else in store for them.

Mr Kulwinder Singh Waraich, vice-president of the Indian Federation of Trade Unions, says over the years, the business has flourished to such an extent that the “agents” have established permanent networks and have hired sub-agents in their area of operation, especially in some villages of Nawanshahr, Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar districts. In several cases, the girls flee after striking secret deals through the middlemen.

The recent escape of three teenaged girls of the Munda tribe in Bihar from the clutches of an influential agent in Bheen village of Nawanshahr district, proves the existence of the trade.

Sangeeta (13), Asrita (15) and Somi Badra (16), belonging to Ranchi district of Jharkhand, were lured by Jharkhand-based sub-agents, who had promised them good jobs in Delhi. They were instead brought to Punjab in the Tata Moori Express, and were forcibly kept in agent, Jagdish Singh’s house. In their statements before the media and the police, they alleged that the inhuman treatment was meted out to them at his place. They were kept confined until a deal was struck with their prospective employer. Asrita Thopa alleged that she was physically abused by her “master”. While a case has been registered by the Nawanshahr police against the former sarpanch of the village, Jagdish Singh, and his son for abducting and raping one of the girls, the accused are at large. Sources say that Jagdish has been able to evade arrest because of political patronage.

Talking to this correspondent, Asrita said she had left her village along with her friend Sisil without informing her parents. She was part of a group that comprised seven boys and three girls. “I had come here to earn a living but did not know the price I would have to pay for it,” said sobbing. She is presently lodged in the Nari Niketan. Mr Tarsem Peter, president of the Pendu Mazdoor Union, says the phenomenon of human trafficking is not new to some of these villages. In the beginning, truck drivers became agents and were instrumental in bringing more and more people here, particularly after the green revolution. Over the years they made sub-agents and the business grew. After the girls are brought, they are kept in the houses of middlemen, from where they are either sent off to the homes of landlords to work as domestic help or sold off, he says. While the agents charge a commission of Rs 2,000, the girls have to forego their salary for two months, A part of this money reportedly goes to the local agent who keeps them before they are sent to work.

A sarpanch says that the wages are fixed keeping in mind physical condition and nature of work. Driven by poverty, the going is not easy for these girls who have to learn the local dialect, change their lifestyles and be at the beck and call of their masters. Criticising the role of the police, Mr Peter alleged that the police had not been able to contain this menace since girls in large numbers have also been provided as domestic workers in the houses of senior police officers and bureaucrats. He said records were not being maintained as per the Inter-state Migrant Act which stipulated that migrant labourers should be registered both at the time of leaving the state and entering another state. Posh houses of the agents and affluent lifestyles are indicative of the fact that the trade is profitable. While the going rate for girls is between Rs 800 and Rs 1,000, for boys it is from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500.

In some cases the girls have been sold for Rs 5,000 to Rs 20,000, as brides. Some of them are shown to prospective buyers in an “open auction”. Women in the age group of 16-23 years have been sold in Roorkee Khurd and Chahl Khurd villages of Balachaur district.

A woman hailing from Himachal Pradesh, on condition of anonymity, said she had been brought by a younger person on the pretext of marrying her. Her dreams were shattered when a few days later he sold her to a middle-aged many at a higher price. “I am not in a position to go home as I had come here against my parent’s wishes. I have no choice but to accept this man as my husband”, she said.

In another such case, a girl was brought by an agent to his native village on the pretext of getting his mother’s approval for marriage. Much to her dismay, she was sold to a “bride-seeker” with the help of his sister. A farmer of Bid Baloki village, near Jalandhar, kept a tribal girl for over 10 years, had children from her and left her in the lurch.

Landless and unemployed, the “bride-seekers” are happy to be married and the brides reconcile to their fate.

A recent visit to the area and interaction with police officials revealed that most of the dealers had gone underground following the registration of a case against the former sarpanch of Bheen village. One of the police officials, associated with the investigations of the case, says, “Not only are the accused absconding, they have also taken away the girls.”

“All such cases will be dealt with sternly”, says Ms Neeraja Voruvuru, SSP, Nawanshahr, who has sought details from sarpanches regarding the number of migrant women, both major and minor, employed in their respective villages. This, she says will help assess the quantum of human trafficking in general and women in particular, besides getting to know about the organised gangs involved in this illegal activity.

“Following the registration of a case in this regard, the Jharkand police has sought assistance to launch a concerted drive against trafficking and make arrangements to take back at least the minor girls, she said.

She was of the view that the state and Central governments should evolve a mechanism to crack down on slave traders and check exploitation of any kind.

She said a team of Jharkand police officers accompanied by a magistrate and members of an NGO are on a visit to Punjab to take stock of the situation.

Mr Rajinder Dhoke, SSP, Kapurthala, denying any such incident in his area, said: “State and other relief agencies must help the unfortunate girls who are trapped in this nasty web”.

The SSP, Jalandhar, Mr Harpreet Sidhu, also ruled out buying and selling of girls in the area under his jurisdiction.

Taking cognisance of the magnitude of the problem, the Punjab DGP had also sought information from all districts in the state.