Nine young girls, between 13 and 17 years, were rescued from seven households in East Delhi’s Vivek Vihar by the Delhi Police on Friday evening.
The rescue operation was carried out after information was provided by NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) about the girls reportedly being trafficked from Jharkand, West Bengal, Odisha, Assam, Bihar and West Bengal.
“After these girls were counselled by BBA activists, one of them revealed that she was trafficked from Jharkhand’s Khunti district by a relative with a promise of a better livelihood. She said she had not been paid a single penny in the past two years and was not even allowed to speak to her parents,” said Rakesh Senger, project director, Victim Assistance and Campaigns.
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The rescued girls have been shifted to a shelter home as per the order of the Child Welfare Committee.
BBA chairperson R.S. Chaurasia said: “Children are the cheapest form of labour. The probability of children leaving employment whenever they want is impossible. It is strange that such girls are being exploited mostly in highly educated and ‘god-fearing’ families.”
They were working as domestic helps; some
had never been paid