Trafficking from Nepal into India up 21 percent

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Trafficking from Nepal into India up 21 percent

By Sudeshna Sarkar, Kathmandu: Smuggling of women from Nepal into

India has shot up by an alarming 21 percent this year and touts are

using novel means like disability aids for trafficking across the

porous border between the two countries.

Prakash Gurung, assistant information officer at Maiti Nepal, a non-

profit organisation headquartered here, said while about 6,600 women

were trafficked to India last year, the number has shot up to 8,000

so far this year, a more than 21 percent increase.

" An alarming new trend that we have been noticing is the use of

disability aids as a ruse by the traffickers, " Gurung says.

Aids like wheelchairs are being used for trafficking by the touts to

ward off suspicion of authorities at the border.

" A woman is put in a wheelchair with a bandage on her leg. Or she

wears a pair of dark glasses and carries a walking stick to signify

she is blind. No one scrutinises them closely while they are making

the crossing and, once on the other side, the accessories are

discarded, " said Guring.

Maiti Nepal, meaning " Mother's House " in Nepali, has been working

for 12 years to prevent trafficking in women and children. It mounts

rescue missions in red-light areas in the kingdom as well as in

India and rehabilitates women rescued from there.

With India and Nepal sharing an over 1,800km of open border, the

authorities on both sides find it difficult to control organised

groups doing thriving business in the flesh trade.

There are 26 border check posts of which trafficking is rampant

along about 10 of them, especially those leading to Gorakhpur in

India's Uttar Pradesh state and Siliguri in West Bengal state.

The nine-year-old Maoist insurgency that has killed over 12,000

people and displaced tens of thousands has also fuelled trafficking.

" Lack of security makes people flock to Kathmandu for safety, " said

Gurung. " They need jobs but have no qualifications. So they easily

fall prey to touts dangling tempting job offers in India. "

Besides the women who are sold in the red-light areas of Indian

metros like Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata, about a 1,000 more are sent

to the Gulf countries each year via India, according to Maiti Nepal

estimates.

Nepal's Human Trafficking Control Act lacks teeth to deter

traffickers, said Gurung.

" Though the law can sentence an offender to life imprisonment -

which means 20 years - few get such stiff penalty, " he said.

Besides, the law allows an offender to be out on bail while he is on

trial.

Once freed from detention, the offender absconds and is never seen

again.

It is the victim who pays for the crime. Even if she is rescued, she

is likely to contract HIV/AIDS, is not accepted by society and, in

many cases, finds it difficult to adjust and is forced to go back to

the brothel.

http://www.newkerala.com/newsdaily.php?action=fullnews & id=22194