Promised 'Better Life' And Trafficked To Bihar, 47 Chhattisgarh Minors Rescued. 5 Accused Arrested

Since there are no details about their birth, all the victims are being treated as minors. They were rescued from the red light area of Rohtas, Bihar.

The minors were lured in with the promise of a better life by joining an “orchestra troupe” in Bihar.

Source : ABPLIVE AI

In a raid, 47 children – 44 girls and three boys – from Chhattisgarh were rescued from Bihar’s Rohtas district following a six-hour-long search operation. The raids that were conducted by teams from eight police stations rescued children from buildings in Natwar Bazar – a well-known red-light area of the district.

According to The Times Of India (TOI), it is suspected that the children were pushed into sex work, and some of the girls might be pregnant. However, all the victims are undergoing pregnancy tests and HIV tests.

The minors were lured in with the promise of a better life by joining an “orchestra troupe” in Bihar.

A joint team of police and the Women and Child Welfare Department went to Rohtas and rescued the children. The minors are natives of Raipur, Durg, Rajnandgaon, Janjgir Champa, Mungeli, Baloda Bazar, and Bilaspur.

As per TOI, a police official said that Rohtas police, with the Bachpan Bachao Andolan, conducted a joint raid at a location where an orchestra and dance group — that perform obscene dances — were working. Since the rescued have no Aadhaar card or any birth details, the police have continued to treat them as minors for now. They were taken to the Child Welfare Committee and were being counselled for recording their statement clearly.

Five were arrested for the crime

The children said that they were taken with the permission of their parents and were still in touch with them. Police have arrested five suspects who urged parents to send their children to another state, transported them, and put them in the “orchestra group”. Three of the accused are residents of Chhattisgarh.

According The Indian Express, they arrested under various sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhit (BNS), Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, the Juvenile Justice Act, the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 and Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, Rohtas Superintendent of Police (SP) Raushan Kumar said.

The Kapu region and Jashpur district are famously known for human trafficking and are considered to be hubs for picking minor girls and women or being lured for jobs in “metro cities” where the victims would be transported illegally. Usually, the girls are pushed into sex work, forced marriages, bonded labour or join orchestra groups.