Three girls rescued from Indo-Nepal border

Published On: February 15, 2017 12:40 AM NPT By: Nirmal Ghimire

BARDIA, Feb 15: An NGO named Sana Hatharu with the help of police rescued three young girls of Gorkha from the Indo-Nepal border on Monday. According to the police, those girls between 15-17 years of age were promised jobs and were being taken across the border.

Those girls who cannot even speak proper Nepali were being taken to India from Balaigai of Bardia on Monday. But the police rescued them form near the border when the NGO informed them about the incident.

Police have arrested, under the charge of human trafficking, a couple accused of taking those girls to India by promising them jobs. While the police have already taken Mahesh Shrestha and Sabitra Tharu of Mainapokhara into custody, Durga BK, another suspect in the same case, is at large.

A week ago, nine women were rescued by police from the same border point and some from Sanoshree. Those nine women have been kept at the Women Help Centre while the three girls have been provided counseling by the women police officers.

“We have found that innocent girls and women from the earthquake-affected areas are being manipulated and trafficked to India,” said SP Bharat Bahadur Bohara. According to him, such activities were prevalent in the bordering areas in the past too.

“We have conducted an awareness program in the border areas for the youths and children about women trafficking” said Bimala BK of Sana Hatharu. “When we saw some girls of different facial structures, we smelled a rat and immediately informed the police,” she added. She informed that they are still collecting information from other sources which will help to find more on this issue.

Many organizations like Sathi, Paurakhi and Maiti Nepal are actively involved in monitoring and controlling cross-border human trafficking. The data collected from these organizations show that in last three years, cases have been filed against 23 people on the charge of human trafficking while six of them are still at large. It also shows that 28 women were rescued from the border areas.