Initially offered jobs in other states for good pay, later they are forcibly married
Initially offered jobs in other states for good pay, later they are forcibly married
The recent rescue of a Sundergarh woman from Madhya Pradesh by the Odisha Police has brought back attention to human trafficking, especially the trafficking of women, from the tribal-dominated Sundergarh district.
In April, the Sadar police station received a complaint from Lalindra Bera of Gotabandha village that his 19-year-old daughter was missing. Following this, the family members got a call from the woman, which was locked at a remote location. They came to know that she has been forcibly married in Karvakhedi village of Ratlam district of Madhya Pradesh. The woman was lured to migrate for work by middlemen, who offered her a “good job” and transferred Rs 60,000 to her father’s account.
“It was a clear case of human trafficking as the woman was forcibly married and taken hostage. After his rescue, we have handed him over to his parents. Sundergarh Superintendent of Police (SP) Sagarika Nath said, “Now we have expanded the scope of our investigation to find out if any big organized gang is working.”
Ms Nath said the police had received tip-offs about two more missing women, who may be trapped in Uttar Pradesh. “We have started our investigation by forming a special police team to trace the women,” he said.
In the year 2021, three cases of missing women were pending in Sadar and Badgaon police stations of Sundergarh district.
However, the cases reported do not reflect the magnitude of the issue of human trafficking, especially in the case of women.
Teenage girls from Odisha migrate to other states to work as domestic helpers and later get into forced marriages. In many cases they are sexually abused. In the early 2000s, Pragati, a Sundergarh-based NGO, conducted a door-to-door survey and made a terrifying estimate of trafficked women. Its survey found that more than 43,000 women of different age groups were missing in 11 out of 17 blocks of Sundergarh district.
“The survey we conducted was an exhaustive one. In most cases, the family members of the women did not contact the police in the early 2000s. Since then, the situation has not improved much. The number of missing women in Sundergarh The numbers could be in the thousands,” said Subhashree Ray, a key member of Pragati.
Similarly, Suru Mishra, an activist from Sundergarh working on the issue of human trafficking, said, “We conducted a study in six migration-prone districts. About 30,000 men and women migrated mostly in distress. While the men left for Goa, New Delhi was the destination for the majority of the women. ,
“In 2019, I had organized a meeting in South Extension, New Delhi. About 300 women from Sundergarh district participated in that meeting. Most of them were employed as domestic helpers,” said Mr. Mishra.
According to him, a new trend has emerged recently. “Women are initially motivated to work for an attractive salary package. Subsequently, they are married off in states such as Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh, where the sex ratio has a declining trend. Cases of 13 missing women are pending in Kinjirkela police station.
Flora Lakra was missing from Sarjanga village in Balishankara block of Sundargarh district for more than a decade. She had gone to work in New Delhi. From this village, Blasius Lakra had sent his 14-year-old girl to Mumbai for work. After that she went missing. Though cases were registered with local police stations, they are yet to be resolved or whether the women have been rescued. In 2017, two women, aged 24 and 36, returned from Saudi Arabia after being sold. Most of the traffickers are known to the victim.
Sundergarh SP Ms. Nath agreed that innocent girls from Sundergarh district were taken to other states and forcibly married to men in states like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. In most cases, marriage affidavits were being shown to the police as supporting documents, he said. “Last year, we had conducted a campaign where we urged people to enroll with the district labor officers before going out of the district for any work, so that later, if there is any problem, we have to start investigation. Have some contact.” he said.
During the ‘Ama’ Community Policing Meetings initiative, the issue of human trafficking is frequently discussed to make people aware of lost girls and women.