The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Victims were lured to Bangalore with the promise of better pay

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Thursday, Oct 30, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Victims were lured to Bangalore with the promise of better pay

Raghava M.

The father of one of the girls arrives in the city from Kolkata

— Photo: K. Gopinathan

Relieved parent: Nimai Haldur, the father of one of the rescued girls, in an emotional state at the Sampegehalli police station in Bangalore.

BANGALORE: The 18-year-old girl from West Bengal could hardly control her tears when she saw her father and two relatives. She cried on the shoulders of her father, Nimai Haldur, who was also unable to control his emotions. “Please tell her not to run away like this again,” he told this reporter.

Haldur had located his daughter — the third of his four children — who had gone missing since October 22 from Nadia village, which is about an hour’s drive from Kolkata. She was one of the two girls from Nadia who the Bangalore police rescued on Sunday from a six-member gang allegedly involved in robbing the well-heeled by using women as bait.

“I do not know what the gang members promised my daughter to lure her here,” said Haldur, who works as a carpenter and earns Rs. 100 a day. His wife and children, including the 18-year-old, fashion the wires used to make sparklers, for which they earn Rs. 45 a day. “Maybe she was attracted by the promise of a better pay in Bangalore. It’s really hard to manage a family of six with such an income,” he said, while giving instances of several from his village who are working as labourers and on construction sites in the city. The carpenter filed a complaint about his missing daughter at the Kalyani police station in West Bengal on October 22. “We were taken aback when she called to say that she had come to Bangalore, along with Pinki (one of the six accused caught by Bangalore Police) on October 26. We had never anticipated that she would go so far away from the village,” said the carpenter’s son-in-law, Sanjit Mondal. “She met Pinki, who used to come to our neighbour’s house often.”

After learning that she was in Bangalore, Haldur, Mondal and another relative immediately started on their journey. “It was a costly and stressful journey. We caught a train to Chennai and landed here early on Wednesday morning.” The carpenter spent Rs. 2,000 to reach Bangalore. “I am happy to see her safe. She is illiterate like her other two sisters, and has easily fallen into the trap laid by the men,” Haldur said.

Sampegehalli police in Bangalore on Wednesday handed over the girl to her relatives. They also handed over the 13-year-old girl who was rescued at the same time. “Her parents are not mentally sound. Hence, we are taking her along with us,” Haldur said. “We were enamoured by what Pinki told us about the lifestyle she was leading here. I am a distant relative of Pinki,” said the 13-year-old.

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