Bachpan Bachao Andolan rescues a minor girl from Jharkhand attempted to sell in the name of marriage in Kota, two arrested
On the information received by Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA), an organization founded by Nobel Peace Laureate, Kailash Satyarthi, the police have arrested two accused in the case of kidnapping of a minor girl from Giridih district of Jharkhand. The accused had kept the minor and his mother hostage for the last eight days and were talking to people to sell them in the guise of marriage.
The victim somehow informed the BBA helpline. After this, BBA informed Cyber Cell in-charge Pratap and Superintendent of Police, Sharad Chaudhary about the matter. Choudhary traced the location of the girl. After this, the cyber team and Udyog Nagar police station, Kota safely rescued the girl and her mother from a room in Premnagar Affordable Society in Kota. The owner of the house was found out to be woman named Geeta who is the mother of Ravi, an accused in the same case.
The girl was brought safely to the children’s room of Udyog Nagar Police Station where she was counselled. During counselling, the girl told that one day Rajendra Mandal alias Raju from her neighbouring village came to her house and told her mother that he would get her daughter married in Kota and would give some money in return. When the mother refused, he threatened to kill her and brought them both to Kota by intimidation.
Here he along with Ravi and Lalit took them both hostage and started bargaining with people to sell them for five lakh rupees in the name of marriage. On refusing, the three also threatened to kill the mother-daughter duo and kept them hungry for four days.
On the complaint of the girl, the police registered a case under trafficking and other sections and arrested Rajendra Mandal alias Raju and Ravi, while the third accused Lalit has not been arrested. Initial investigations from police found that these three together bring girls from Jharkhand and sell them to elderly people in the name of marriage. Raju’s daughter and son-in-law live in Kota, while Geeta, mother of the second accused Ravi, from whose room the mother and daughter were recovered, is also involved in this business. Geeta already has a case registered against her for selling a minor from Jharkhand in the name of marriage and currently she is on bail. After counselling, the girl was sent to a child care home.
Manish Sharma, Director of Bachpan Bachao Andolan, said, “It is being seen that the practice of trafficking of minor girls from Jharkhand in the name of marriage and employment by organized criminal gangs is gaining momentum. Every year, thousands of girls are being rescued from the clutches of child marriage from various places across the country, yet such incidents are not decreasing. Only constant vigilance and awareness can prevent incidents of trafficking and child marriage. Bachpan Bachao Andolan support the idea of a child marriage free India. Child marriage is an evil that cannot be tolerated at any cost, and we will leave no stone unturned in making this dream a reality.”