Ranchi: A voluntary group in Jharkhand that strives to save children from trafficking has rescued eight tribal girls bound for New Delhi.
Ignatius Kerketta, who coordinates Childline, the NGO, at Ranchi railway station, said a man a woman were taking the girls, six of them under age, to be employed as domestic workers in the national capital.
The girls, aged between 12 and 19 years, were brought to Ranchi from Jari village in Dumri block, Gumla district in the eastern Indian state.
Margaret Kujur alias Manisha Prajapati and Ramsuraj Prajapati accompanied the girls, telegraphindia.com reported.
The NGO, which works with railway police to prevent trafficking from the station, rescued the girls on June 3.
The couple and the girls had reached Ranchi around 11:30am and waited for the Hatia-Jammu Tawi Express, scheduled to depart at 3.29pm.
However, around 1:30 pm, the Childline volunteers became suspicious about the group. The NGO had received information that traffickers had gone off with some Gumla girls.
A few casual questions to the girls confirmed that the group comprised the Gumla victims.
“Immediately, we sent information to Gumla’s anti-human trafficking unit and alerted railway police which arrested the couple,” Kerketta told reporters.
The minor girls, who were between 12 and 16 years of age, were produced before Ranchi district child welfare committee and then sent to Premashray, a shelter, for counseling. The two adult victims, both aged around 19, were sent to Gumla with the arrested Prajapati couple in the evening.
Childline member Meera Mishra said a case of human trafficking would be registered at Gumla for further legal action.