BIRENDRANAGAR, May 6: The relatives of five children who were manipulated into running away to India by a woman have complained that police officers are not taking any action despite repeated complaints. The five children are from Bhairavi Rural Municipality of Dailekh district. Four of them are girls between 14 to 16 years of age, while one of them is a boy.
The five children were taken under control by the police while they were trying to enter India from the Jamunaha border checkpoint of Banke without telling their parents and were later handed over to their families. The relatives of the children filed a case of human trafficking against a woman from the same village for taking their daughters to India at the police office in Dailekh on April 27.
However, the victims have complained that the police have not registered their complaint yet. The relatives of the five girls had complained to the police alleging that the woman, who is a relative of the village, had arranged to send the children to India secretly by luring them with jobst.
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“They ran away from home on April 21 and had planned to go to India the same day,” one of the victim’s relatives said. Quoting the children he said, “The children were comforted by the lies of earning good money after reaching Delhi by the woman.” The relative claimed that the girls studying in 7th and 8th grades in the village were tempted to run to India with the hopes of earning money.
"Manipulating them to go to India without contacting their families clearly shows the woman's true intentions," said a mother of one of the girls. “We would have never seen nor know what could have happened to our children if they had not been caught at the border.”
The relatives said that they only came to know of the incident after the police called them from the border to identify their children after they went missing.
“The police do not respond when we ask about the progress of our case,” one of the victim’s relatives said. “All they say is they are still investigating.”
Meanwhile, the woman has also given her statement to the police after the relatives complained to the police about her. According to Deputy Superindent of Police (DSP) Bhubaneswar Shah of the district, the relatives have filed a case of human trafficking but the decision will be taken only after investigating the case.
DSP Shah said that an investigation is underway and a decision will be made on whether to proceed with the case.
