HYDERABAD: The Covid pandemic seems to have played spoilsport with State government’s efforts in stamping out human trafficking. According to the latest NCRB report, Telangana recorded 184 human trafficking cases to top the 2020 list, a dubious distinction it shares with Maharashtra.
In 2018, Telangana recorded 242 human trafficking cases. The number dropped to 137 the following year.
While the number of reported cases in 2020 was 184, the actual victims trafficked were far more as multiple victims were trafficked at a time.
As per the survey, the total number of victims trafficked in the State during 2020 was 439. Of the total victims, 401 were women — eight of them under 18 years of age and 393 were above 18. The highest number of victims trafficked was for ‘sexual exploitation for prostitution’ (363) and forced labour (31).
Experts claim that the reported numbers are far less than the actual numbers as during Covid-19 there was a surge in human trafficking and many cases went unreported.