At least five instances have come to light in the last two months of teenaged girl students from some of the city’s prominent schools being allegedly trapped in what the police call a vicious drug abuse and human trafficking racket, prompting the City police to launch a campaign to create awareness and save teenagers here from such traps.
The campaign, titled ‘Save A Teenager’ and launched by City Police Commissioner H. Venkatesh from the Cotton Hill Girls’ Higher Secondary School here on Wednesday, will focus on conducting interactive sessions with girl students from the city’s schools, creating awareness on the dangers of substance abuse, alcohol, tobacco, and most importantly, on how the internet and social media was being misused by sexual predators.
Mr. Venkatesh, speaking after the launch, said the police had received several complaints from schools and parents alike, bringing to his notice instances of minor girls developing dangerous habits including smoking.
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“The issue cannot be ignored or swept under the carpet anymore. Lack of attention, in most instances, from teachers and parents, has resulted in anti-socials exploiting the situation, leading to children being trapped easily,” he said.
Five instances
According to police sources, the five instances that actually triggered the campaign involved minor girls, who were slowly lured into ‘friendships’ by men, some operating in gangs, and slowly being made victims of sexual abuse and then blackmailing.
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Some of these girls were then allegedly forced to introduce their junior schoolmates to these ‘friends’.
These juniors then became victims of the same cycle of abuse. Senior police officials investigating the five instances, which now have cases registered for charges including rape and under provisions of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, said it was mostly through social media, including Facebook and mobile messaging application WhatsApp, that the minors were lured into the traps.
Suicide
One instance of a teenaged girl student allegedly committing suicide is being investigated to see whether there were any connections with these five cases, some of which had the same gangs operating behind them.
“It’s a vicious circle that they fall into,” Mr. Venkatesh said, adding that the campaign was being taken out in collaboration with city-based NGO, Dale View, led by its CEO Shaiju Alfi.
It would be expanded to all schools in the city, with plans afoot to rope in celebrities including athlete Anju Bobby George as ambassadors.