HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court has directed the state government to formally commit to a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for rescue operations involving victims of sex trafficking and to file an affidavit by February 24. The court also allowed the state to propose revisions to the draft SOP.
A bench of justices P Sam Koshy and Narsing Rao Nandikonda was hearing a writ petition filed by Prajwala, an NGO working in the field of anti-human trafficking. The petition sought uniform guidelines for the custody and placement of rescued victims in protection homes.
The NGO also urged the court to ensure that traffickers or organisers are not mistakenly treated as victims during rescue operations. Such persons, it argued, should not be housed in protection homes meant for survivors.
Deepak Misra, counsel for Prajwala, placed a draft SOP detailing telltale indicators to help law enforcement agencies distinguish genuine victims from perpetrators.
Senior counsel L Ravichander warned that failure to clearly separate victims from traffickers would undermine rehabilitation efforts, as the presence of perpetrators could further traumatise survivors and influence others in protective homes.