Trafficked Bangla girls reunited with families

CHENNAI: At least five Bangladeshi girls, who were trafficked and forced into the sex trade, have been reunited with their families with the help of the Consulate of Bangladesh in New Delhi. One of the girls was brought to Bengaluru by a broker when she was 14. She was promised a decent job but was forced into the flesh trade. The girl escaped to Chennai and was found in Thiruvottiyur.Some residents rescued her and informed police.
Initially, she stayed at the government home for women in Mylapore and was later moved to the observational home for boys and girls at Kellys. The superintendent of the home approached the district legal services authority (DLSA) to get her birth certificate. I Jayanthi, secretary of the DLSA, enquired with the girl and learned about her plight.
After contacting the Bangladesh consulate officials, the official contacted the girl’s sister in that country. The consulate officials arranged her flight ticket and sent her home on Saturday.
Jayanthi said, “It was an unforgettable moment. The girl hugged and thanked me for helping her reunite with her family.”
The Thiruvottiyur police on January 20, 2016, rescued a 15-year-old Bangladeshi girl from a house and arrested a pimp. The girl was detained at a woman’s house on Egavalli Amman Koil Street in Thiruvottiyur from January 17. Her cries alerted neighbours who, in turn, informed police. Based on her statement, the Tiruvottiyur all-women police nabbed K Tipu, 28, and charged him under IPC sections 366 (A) (procuring of minor girl) and 506 (II) (criminal intimidation) and Section 6 of the Pocso Act.
The Class VIII student told police she hailed from a village in Bagerhat district of Bangladesh.
After her mother’s death a few years ago, she was brought up by her father, Yusuff Sheik, an alcoholic. She decided to earn for her family and informed her aunt Darlin.
An investigation officer said, “The pimp travelled to her village and promised her a job in Bengaluru.” The girl left with Tipu and Darlin on January 4 and was first taken to a rented house in Bengaluru before she was brought to Sathangadu.
The other four girls, aged between 20 and 22, were also reunited with their families after an NGO approached the Bangladesh high commission in Delhi and provided documents after they identified them during their stay at the government home for women in Chennai.