KOCHI:The Kerala High Court on Friday directed the External Affairs Ministry and the departments engaged in emigration duties at airport and seaports to strictly adhere to norms and ensure that women are not trafficked.
A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court issued the order while disposing of a petition by the victim in the Sharjah sex racket case, seeking a directive to constitute a special investigation team to probe the case.
She submitted that she escaped from Sharjah with the help of certain social organisations in the UAE. she was brutally tortured and abused while working there. She alleged that a racket had been trafficking women to foreign countries, promising job, with the help of agents. The racket has trapped several girls for sexual exploitation in Sharjah and the other Gulf countries.
The court directed the Union Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs to conduct a detailed inquiry into complaints of sexual abuse of women working in Gulf countries. The Ministry should take precautionary measures to ensure that the complaints, if any, are redressed immediately and the victims are brought back to India.
The case was registered at the Pathanamthitta police station in 2007, on the basis of a complaint filed by the victim. She alleged that
the racket had trapped around 300 girls and pushed them into sex trade in the Gulf.
The court pointed out that since the police had investigated the case and filed the chargesheet, no further directive was required.