Traffickers' Various Tricks While Transporting Children In Trains

On June 29 this year, 16 children were rescued at Anand Vihar railway station from Kamakhya Express while 12 traffickers were arrested. A day later, on June 30, a 12-year-old boy from Assam was rescued from the clutches of a trafficker from the Awadh-Assam Express at Chapra in Bihar. 25 children being trafficked from Bihar to Punjab were rescued from New Jalpaiguri-Amritsar Karmabhoomi Express at Ambala Cantt station on July 30. These are not stray incidents. Nearly 600 children have been rescued from trains and buses alone during the pandemic. A grim reminder of the times we live in where trafficking has increased manifold.

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Train stations have become transit points for traffickers, who lure children with the promise of a better future. Instead, they are forced into slavery as domestic workers, to work in sweatshops, and even pushed into commercial sexual exploitation. The modus operandi is simple. The traffickers train children to say they are going out for studies, give them fake identity documents and scatter them across different coaches including AC compartments to avoid suspicion.

Also Read: Human Trafficking Survivors Report Suspicious Movement Of Children For A Crackdown On Traffickers

Explaining the new tricks adopted by child traffickers to avoid a crackdown on them, Rakesh Senger, Executive Director, Bal Mitra Mandal, Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation (KSCF), said,

Earlier, the traffickers would put children in the general compartment and travel in the reserved compartments themselves. Even if someone would come to check, it would be difficult for them to find the children. Now that has changed. Now the traffickers put children in the AC compartments, and they travel themselves in a different compartment.

Also Read: Unfolding The Dark Reality Of Human Trafficking In India And The Need For New Anti-Trafficking Bill

While train travel offers many pluses for traffickers, children are now being transported in smaller groups in private vehicles as well to avoid questioning eyes.

If you notice any suspicious movement of children, you can lodge a complaint by dialing either 100, Childline at 1098 or Bachpan Bachao Andolan Complaint Cell number 1800 102 7222. Even the slightest help can ensure Justice For Every Child.

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