8 of 10 missing persons get sold to brothels: Cops

A large majority of the people who go missing are victims of human trafficking and many of them are pushed into flesh trade, a report prepared by a senior Gujarat police official says.

The report, prepared by DIG AK Jadeja says that says that majority of the people ‘missing’ are human trafficked and eight out of every 10 suspected victims are sex trafficked.

Even though police and other law enforcement agencies have taken a host of measures to curb human trafficking, figures suggest that the menace is on the rise. What is worrying is that many of the persons who go missing are children. Around 80% of the trafficking victims are women and young girls, while children account for 50% of the victims.

The report says human trafficking mainly happens because traffickers believe that human body is reusable, expendable and a commodity. According to estimates, human trafficking in India is a Rs2,000-crore industry.

In the state, Ahmedabad, Valsad, Rajkot and Surat are the most vulnerable cities for trafficking. The purposes children are trafficked for include labour, illegal activities, sexual exploitation, entertainment and sports.

“Missing children are used by traffickers in different ways and this is increasing by the day,” said Sanjay Joshi, an activist who works for missing children.

The illegal activities the missing children are used for include begging, organ trade and drug peddling. Sexual exploitation includes forced prostitution, religiously sanctified forms of prostitution, sex tourism and pornography.

In 2009, the state government established Child Crisis Intervention Centres in these cities. Abandoned, trafficked and missing children are brought to these centres and if parents are not found, they are handed over to Children homes. Nodal officers have also been appointed in every district to track the cases of missing children.

The police, on the other hand, blame poor bonding between children and parents for rising instances of missing children. “We have seen that majority of children below 12 who are trafficked seem to have poor bonding with their parents. Parental guidance among disturbed children makes a lot of difference in them,” says IGP, CID (crime), Anil Pratham.

In India, every year about 20,000 girls from Nepal are trafficked with false promises. The girls are as young as nine and end up in brothels in India or as domestic servants in Middle East.