By Tapas Ghosh

Kolkata: A Calcutta High Court judge has said “being a woman, I feel scared” that “thousands of women are being trafficked from West Bengal” and asked police to ensure protection of girls at least until they are 18.

Hearing a batch of petitions alleging police inaction following the disappearance of three girls from North 24-Parganas’ Deganga in three separate incidents on August 28, Justice Nadira Patherya said: “Being a woman, I feel scared to see thousands of women, most of whom are minors, being smuggled to other states and even to other countries.”

The judge added: “Cases alleging abduction of women regularly come before the courts. In most cases, the courts find that the missing girl has already been smuggled to another state or country. What are the police doing then? It is the duty of the police to ensure that minor girls can stay in the custody of their parents at least till they reach 18 years of age.”

Justice Patherya advised the government to undertake special programs to train the police to combat trafficking cases and to counsel girls in schools through its special juvenile police unit. Each district and Kolkata have at least one such unit.

“At a time Prime Minister Narendra Modi has undertaken the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao program, the state administrations are playing mum spectators when poor parents of minor girls are lodging missing complaints. Being a woman, I feel ashamed that the administration cannot protect our rights. The state government should train the police to handle the cases properly and engage special juvenile police units for counseling of minor girls in their schools,” Justice Patherya said.

According to official statistics, Bengal accounts for 44 per cent of the total number of cases of human trafficking reported from across India.

One of the three petitions before the judge on Tuesday had been moved by the father of a 16-year-old girl missing since 2016. He had approached the court in March 2017 alleging police inaction, following which the case was handed over to the CID.

“The CID has prayed for time from the court on different occasions and, in the meantime, the jurisdiction of the judges changed. Finally, the matter came up for disposal before Justice Patherya. On August 28, the CID placed its report before the judge,” said Debasish Bandyopadhyay, the lawyer representing the father.

In its report, the CID said it had traced the girl recently to Chaluria in Howrah and produced her before a Basirhat sub-divisional court. By the time the CID found the girl, she had turned 18. “As she expressed her wish to go to her husband’s house in Howrah, the (sub-divisional) court allowed her to go there,” the CID report said.

Asked by the judge, the state counsel informed Justice Patherya that the CID had found the girl five days after she had attained the age of 18.

Justice Patherya said: “So the police were waiting for the girl to turn 18….”

“The police always tend to find minor missing girls after they cross 18 years. It is a surprise. It is because they don’t try to trace the girls. But while the police delay, many girls are smuggled to other places,” the judge added.

Source: telegraphindia.com