Tuesday 17 January 2017

Darjeeling Schoolgirls to be Awarded National Bravery Award for Busting Human Trafficking Racket

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17 year old Shivani Gond and 18 year old Tejasweeta Pradhan will find themselves being honoured with national bravery awards next week by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The two schoolgirls from West Bengal's Darjeeling district will receive the honours for helping the police in busting a cross- border human trafficking racket, which ultimately led to the arrest of suspects in the cases of girls missing from both India and Nepal.

Shivani and Tejasweeta have been credited for "showing exemplary courage" when acting as decoys to win the trust of traffickers, leading the police to finally catch them red- handed. 

The girls reportedly befriended the traffickers on Facebook in May 2016. They then engaged in telephonic conversations with the traffickers, spending days to win their trust. Eventually, they convinced the traffickers that they were willing to run away from home, following which they ultimately led them to the police.

According to government data, there had been a 52.8 percent increase in the number of minor girls "procured" and a 35.4 percent increase in the number of girls sold in 2015 as compared to the previous year. 

Besides, West Bengal happens to be among the top three states for traffickers to indulge in luring young girls from poor families,  offering them promises of good jobs. Instead, they force them into the sex trade or into domestic servitude, campaigners say. 

In similar manner, the traffickers also targeted Shivani and Tejasweeta, unaware of the fact that the girls were part of an operation jointly organised by police and non-profit organisation Mankind in Action for Rural Growth.

"When we spoke to them, they very openly told us that we would be required to meet the sexual needs of our guests," Shivani Gond told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

"They asked to see our photographs, to make sure we were pretty girls. I was a little scared but we did everything they asked us to because we had to gain their trust."

Tejasweeta Pradhan's mother, Kamlesh Rai, a school teacher, said, "I was hesitant at first, but then I realised that it was our only shot to get the traffickers."

The first breakthrough had come to the police with the arrest of a woman who had travelled to New Jalpaiguri to pick up the girls. her arrest led the police to a missing girl from Nepal, as well as  to a trafficking gang and a  wanted suspect in New Delhi.

The National Bravery Awards are annually given to around 25 children between the ages of 6 and 18. The recipients, selected from across India, are given a medal, certificate and a cash prize, besides financial assistance to complete their schooling.

While children have won awards for foiling robberies, fighting off armed intruders, rescuing people from drowning, saving lives in a stampede and putting out fires, this happens to be the first time that an award will be given regarding a human trafficking case.

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