New Anti-Trafficking Bill To Be Tabled In The Parliament Proposes Higher And Graded Punishment If The Crime Is Committed Against A Child

A 14-year-old got lured by a placement agency with a false promise of a monthly salary of Rs. 8,000. She was moved to Delhi from her native place in Assam's Sonitpur district hoping for a better future. Little did she know that her dream would soon turn into a nightmare. Placed as domestic help, she was subjected to unimaginable torture and abuse for nearly two years. She pleaded with the agency to send her back home but they turned a deaf ear.

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The girl finally managed to dial her uncle and narrate her ordeal. As soon as Satyarthi Movement's Bachpan Bachao Andolan was informed, they coordinated with the Delhi Police and rescued her. All this while, the agency had even robbed her of her earnings.

In four decades, the Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation has rescued more than one lakh children from trafficking. We have also worked on rehabilitating them. However, the problem of trafficking still persists, said Rakesh Senger, Executive Director, Bal Mitra Mandal of Kailash Satyarthi Children's foundation.

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While the girl was rescued, trafficking has now emerged as a significant problem all over the world and is the third-largest international criminal enterprise, generating an estimated $150 billion annually as per the International Labour Organization (ILO).

It is a market where victims are treated as commodities, bought, sold, traded and used to meet the demand for sex, cheap labour, human organs and pornography. National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data shows trafficking increased by 14.3 per cent in 2019 as compared to 2018.

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Former chairperson of National Commission For Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), Shantha Sinha voiced her concern saying,

After COVID and lockdown, there has been a silent movement of children away from their villages. Children are being trafficked for work, as child labourers and are silently being trafficked for sex work as well. It seems the monster has come back.

The Centre is all set to table a new trafficking bill in Parliament which proposes the inclusion of strong provisions for the prevention of trafficking, rescue and rehabilitation of victims, along with swift action against traffickers.

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The Bill proposes higher and graded punishment if the crime is committed against a child; makes provision to combat new forms of trafficking adopted by traffickers during the pandemic; proposes immediate rehabilitation once the FIR is registered and relief within 30 days of FIR.

Jyoti Mathur, Executive Director, Training and Capacity Building, KSCF explained that the bill, despite being a criminal law ensures the burden of proof lies on the accused. It means the accused is presumed to be guilty and he/she has to prove that they have not done the crime. This applies for children, women and the disabled only.

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