NEW DELHI: The trafficking of women, minor boys and girls for labour and sexual exhalations from various states through trains, which is the most preferred mode of transport for the human traffickers goes unabated.
The Railway Protection Force (RPF) as part of the month-long nationwide campaign "Operation AAHT" to curb human trafficking rescued 181 victims of human trafficking including 151 minor boys and 32 girls in July from various trains and rail areas.
"As part of this initiative, RPF has very recently set up 750 Anti-Trafficking Human Units (AHTUs) across the country that would coordinate with Police, AHTUs functioning in Thana, district and state levels, intelligence units, NGOs and other stakeholders and take effective action on human-trafficking through rail", Jain shared with this daily. Recently, an MoU was also signed by the RPF with an NGO namely the Association of Voluntary Action (AVA), which is also known as "Bachapan Bachao Andolan " for preventing the trafficking of women, and boys and girls by trains.
The RPF along with the support of volunteers from social organizations conducted regular searches across the country and rescued 181 persons from the clutches of human traffickers.
"Among them, the RPF rescued three poor women and arrested 47 human traffickers on charges of facilitating trafficking in women, girls and boys from one state to another for wrong purposes", said Rajiv Jain-ADG PR Railway at the Ministry of Railway on Tuesday.
Jain further said that human trafficking, especially of women and children, for sexual exploitation, prostitution, forced labour, forced marriage, domestic servitude, adoption, begging, organ transplant, and drug peddling among others are carried out as an organized crime.
"This is the most abominable violation of human rights. The railways, being a major national mode of the transport network is being used by human traffickers for transportation of victims from source areas to destination areas", Jain admitted, further adding that the RPF has taken a resolve to make the entire railway networks were forbidden to the human traffickers.
Sharing details, Jain claimed that the RPF had rescued 2,178 persons, including minor-aged boys and girls, in the last 5 years (from 2017 to 2021) across the country, who were being trafficked for organized works of exploitation.
"Besides all this, the RPF personnel have rescued more than 65,000 children and scores of women and girls in need of care and protection 'in the last five years' and sent them back to their homes through proper channels. They were rescued either from loitering in and around the railway stations and the platforms or travelling alone in
trains", Jain said.
Most of them had fled away from their homes after petty issues like quarrelling with parents, and husbands or being beaten by their fathers. The RPF cops along with associated volunteers of social organizations conduct searches in over 21,000 passenger strains which run every day in order to spot anyone being trafficked.