Trafficking of West Bengal teenage girl: Rights leader alleges police inaction

By A Representative

Kirity Roy, secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), a Hooghly-based human rights group, has asked additional director general of police (ADGP), CID, West Bengal, to ensure quick investigation into the trafficking of a 17-year-old girl, alleging police inaction despite complaint filed more than one-and-a-half months back.

The girl belongs to a poor scheduled caste family from village Hariharpur, Police Station Basirhat of 24 Parganas (North) district, said Roy, naming a resident of village Pathankhali, Police Station Gosaba, district 24 Parganas (South), for abducting the girl daughter when she had out of her residence to buy some items on March 26.

"Hariharpur village is situated at the bank of river Ichamati and adjoined to India-Bangladesh border. The villagers were mostly dependent on fishing in Ichamati river, but now fishing is being restricted by the posted Border Security Force personnel and forced the villagers to sustain their families by working as wage labour in brick kilns", said Roy in his representation.

The accused is working to load bricks in trucks and attached with transportation of bricks, he claimed, pointing out, "The area is infamous for missing girls; where the girls are being trapped by the youths from outside. Marriage of minor girls is phenomenal in this area."

On the basis of the complaint by the father of the trafficked girl, Basirhat Police Station initiated a criminal case. the Basirhat police along with its counterpart of Sonarpur PS made some raids on April 4 at few places in Sonarpur but failed to locate the girl, the Roy said, regretting, however, "Our fact finding team came to know that the Basirhat police did not handover the copy of FIR to the complainant."

"The anxious family members alleged that the police are lackadaisically handling the case, thus failed to locate the girl though one and half months have already passed. While contacted, the Investigating Officer of the case said that ‘we are trying but we have many cases to handle, not only this one’," Roy said.

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