Rampant Trafficking, A Menace For Girls Across India

By Kajol Singh / INN Live

The backbone of most urban households - the domestic worker is an extremely abused and exploited class in India with thousands of minor girls being trafficked to big cities and sold as a bonded labour. They are exploited financially as they work with no or minimal pay as well as are exploited sexually at times. 

Mamoni, whose daughter went missing after being trafficked to Delhi with a promise of a job as a domestic help, says that she will not return to her hometown without her daughter. Like Mamuni, hundreds of tea-garden workers for Assam are searching for their teenage daughters.
The minor girls are forced to stay in dingy cramped rooms along with male agents. In some instances the girls are just 7 to 8 years old. 

INN along with 'Bachpan Bachao Aandolan' joined a police raid in Shakurbasti in New Delhi. During the raid, Mamoni spotted the agent Dolon, who trafficked her daughter. He admitted that Mamoni's daughter works at a kothi. He also admitted that there are many like him trafficking girls from Assam. "I have brought 2-4 girls till date and for each girl I get paid Rs 7,000 to Rs 8,000," Dolon said. 

Later, the police rescued the minor domestic help from the posh Vasant Kunj area in South Delhi. She is in a serious condition with a severe wound on her head and deep gashes on her body. She has been admitted to Safdarjung Hospital in the national capital. 

The employer of the minor girl had admitted paying money to the agents who brought the girl. However, she also added that no amount was given to the minor and she paid a monthly salary of Rs 2,800 to the agent. 

"The agent takes around Rs 30,000 to Rs 36,000 initially and later they also take the monthly salary," said employer of the girl. 

By employing minors, such families are breaking the law as well as their need for cheap domestic labour is fueling a ruthless child trafficking industry that exploits and abuses thousands of desperately poor families in Assam and other parts of India. There is a desperate need for the authorities to keep a check on the rampant trafficking of children from smaller states.