NEW DELHI: A gang selling women and children for as little as $ 1300 has been busted by the police in Madhya Pradesh, a state in central India. The police bust came at a time when a top quasi judicial women's authority in the state told Bikyamasr.com that a state-wide audit on missing women and children, who could have fallen prey to gangs just like these, had been ordered.
According to Superintendent of police Lalit Shakyawar, eight persons including two women had been arrested and four minor girls had been rescued from the clutches of the human traffickers. “Two girls were sold for Rs 65,000 at Bhawani Mandi village in the name of marriage. Police rescued them from Bhawani Mandi from captivity of one Kalu, to whom they were sold. The girls alleged Kalu had raped them while his parents and brother used to beat them. Police have arrested Premabai, Karan Singh, Kalu, Raju, Shyamlal, Jagdish and Champalal and another woman Draupdibai, all members of the gang,” Shakyawar said. Both girls were minors and aged 11 years, while the other two minors had been sold for $ 1300. Police also said that the role of the women in the gang was to win the confidence of their targeted victims, before handing them over to the male gang members. Speaking to Bikyamasr.com, chairperson of the Madhya Pradesh Women's Commission Upma Rai said that her organisation had already ordered an audit on the girls and women reported missing in the hundreds of police stations located in the state. “We have asked for reports on all missing women and children from all districts and the present status. The home department has already formed a task force for this purpose,” Rai said.
