Expressing concern over the two-year-old battered baby girl undergoing treatment at the All- India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Union Home Ministry on Tuesday termed it a case of child trafficking and sought a report from the Delhi Police.
The police suspect that the two accused women, arrested on Monday, were part of a well-organised human trafficking racket, having links in Bihar, Haryana and Rajasthan.
The Ministry has already issued a comprehensive advisory on missing children and measures needed to prevent trafficking and trace the children, Additional Secretary B. Bhamathi told journalists here.
The issue of missing and untraced children needed the concerted and systematic attention of the Central and State governments, an advisory from the Home Minister said and called upon the States to take urgent and effective steps to check it.
It said legal provisions in the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 and other laws, several rulings of the Supreme Court and the recommendations of the National Human Rights Commission emphasise the immediacy of prompt action by law enforcement agencies following disappearance of children, particularly minor girls, to maximise chances of tracing them.
Rewards
The Ministry announced institution of awards for recognition of work done by States or Union Territories, government officers and non-governmental organisations to check human trafficking. Ms. Bhamathi said the former Home Secretary, G.K. Pillai, would head a three-member committee to shortlist the awardees from the nominations.
