Bangladeshi delegation in Mumbai to tackle problems of trafficked women

A special Bangladeshi delegation, which held a meeting with its Indian counterpart on Sunday, will sign a pact with India on preventing trafficking of women to India. The draft of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been drawn up, and the pact is likely to be signed in a couple of weeks, according to sources.

The development comes in the wake of the rise in trafficking of Bangladeshi women to India. Trafficking of women from West Bengal to different parts of the country is also rampant, and at times it is difficult to differentiate between those from Bangladesh and West Bengal as the language they speak is not very different.

While the Indian delegation is headed by Suresh Kumar, joint secretary, Union home ministry, the 7 to 8-member team has representatives from the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Border Security Forces and officials from the women and child welfare department of several states, including Maharashtra. The Bangladeshi delegation is also headed by an official of the country's corresponding department.

Both the teams visited Navjeevan Mahila Sudhar Griha, the state-run shelter home for women in Deonar on Monday morning to interact with inmates. "The inmates talked about their native places, and the officials of Bangladeshi delegation assured them speedy repatriation and rehabilitation," said a source.

There are 14 observation homes in Maharashtra where rescued women are housed before being repatriated to their states/countries. Of the 384 women rescued and admitted to state-run homes in 2012-2013, the highest number, 116, were from Bangladesh. And between 2006 to 2012, of the 7,597 women admitted to these homes, 399 were Bangladeshis, followed by 98 from West Bengal.