CHENNAI: Amid concern over spike in human trafficking cases across the country, the 32 anti-human trafficking units (AHTUs) of Tamil Nadu have managed to file just one case in 2022, shows National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data.
While 577 and 434 human trafficking cases were filed in the state in 2015 and 2016, respectively, the numbers declined to 13 in 2017. The state recorded 8, 16, 11 and 3 cases respectively in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. In 2022, only one case was filed in which five people, including two minors being taken for forced labour, were rescued, shows the NCRB data. With Tamil Nadu being a destination state where labourers are brought for work from across the country, the number of cases filed after 2016 in the state is very low, activists said.
While trafficking is one of the biggest organised crimes, the poor case registration record shows that the dedicated units set up to prevent the crime exist only on paper, and police officers have very little awareness about the crime.
The AHTUs were formed in five states on a pilot basis in 2006 and were expanded to other states in 2009 by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs under an anti-trafficking project implemented by it along with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The home ministry came up with the proposal after the National Human Rights Commission’s (NHRC) action research study report on ‘Trafficking in Women and Children in India’ published in 2004 flagged poor awareness about trafficking among police officers and low priority accorded to the crime due to the officers’ preoccupation with other issues.
The report also said trafficking is widely prevalent in India, and trains are among the most used mode of transport. Through the programme, police officials were trained in cracking human trafficking cases and the programme showed positive results for the first few years.
Units became inactive after 2016 due to lack of infra, staff
“The Criminal Amendment Act 2013 came into force on April 1, 2013, in which human trafficking was defined in IPC section 370. Since then there has been a gradual increase every year till 2016. But after that, the number of cases started declining every year,” said P Balamurugan, a development consultant.
After 2016, the units didn’t function in the spirit of fulfilling their purpose due to several reasons, including lack of proper infrastructure and adequate staff strength. This was the case across India except in a few states where there were dedicated staff and police stations.
The other reasons include lack of awareness among police officials about Section 370 of IPC, lack of coordination mechanism among source, transit and destination states, absence of rehabilitation packages for victims, and pressure exerted on victims by the traffickers, Balamurugan said.
A senior police officer, who worked in the anti-human trafficking wing while it was functioning under the CB-CID, said that cases under Section 370 are filed only if there is a clear indication that labourers were transported from one place to another by deceiving them.
“A separate law for prevention of trafficking is the need of the hour so that the dedicated units can function properly. The Trafficking in Persons Bill 2021 should be passed on a priority basis to prevent the crime,” said Devaneyan, a child rights activist.
Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUtus) that were functioning under the CB-CID till 2019 were brought under the control of Crime against Women and Children (CWC) unit in 2019. Though there are dedicated AHTU s, the officers posted there were only aiding the law and order police officers in the investigation of trafficking cases as there are no separate police stations for the unit.
The state government, based on a court direction, has sanctioned police stations in five districts and two cities along with the required staff and funds recently. The police stations may start functioning from February, said a senior officer of the CWC wing.