Three Hill girls saved from being trafficked, two arrested

Papiya Manna one of the arrested suspect trafficker

Amitava Banerjee | MP | 22 Nov 2018 | Darjeeling: Timely intervention and coordination between various NGOs saved three minors from getting trafficked to Bihar.

The rescue brings to light the fact that girls from this region are being lured to Bihar with assurances of handsome salaries to work as dancers in orchestras and then are trafficked.

A Tiny Hands (NGO) team on a routine watch noticed two young girls with a woman standing at the ticket counter of the Bihar bus stand near Siliguri Railway Junction. "It aroused our suspicion as the girls had features showing that they were from the Hills whereas the woman looked like a person from the plains," stated Binoy Tamang, Coordinator, Tiny Hands, Siliguri.

The team intervened and started asking questions.

They found out that there was another girl inside a Bihar-bound bus. The 17-year-old girl was also rescued from the bus. The two girls (aged 14 and 17 years) along with the third girl revealed that they were being taken to work as orchestra dancers to Motihari, East Champaran, Bihar.

The girls were lured with assurances of a very good salary along with free food and lodging facilities.

An FIR has been registered. One Papiya Manna (28) hailing from North 24-Parganas along with one 27-year-old Santosh Kumar Sahani from Majheria, East Champaran, Bihar, were arrested in connection with this case.

They were produced before a Siliguri court on Thursday. Following the rescue, the three victims aided by World Vision and Childline have been sent to a Home.

In another case, following an awareness programme by She Says, a Mumbai based NGO in a Hill school, some students confided that they were sexually abused by one 71-year-old Man Bahadur Subba, alias Ratey Bajey, who is a local shaman. An FIR was lodged and Subba was arrested.

In another case, a woman lodged an FIR against her husband for allegedly sexually torturing her 14-year-old daughter.

The victim revealed to her mother that her step-father Wangdi Tamang had tortured her in the wee hours of November 10.

Tamang was absconding after the incident was reported.

He was later arrested and produced before Darjeeling court on November 21.