Disabled girl kidnapped from Delhi, raped and made to beg in Mumbai

A 12yearold deafandmute girl was abducted from the national capital and brought to Mumbai by a begging gang led by a 32yearold transgender The minor who was forced to seek alms near Churchgate station had also been rapedThe night staffers of the Marine Drive police rescued the victim recently and arrested three including two transgendersEach of the accused hails from different states Delhi Haryana and Uttar Pradesh The Marine Drive cops are finding out how they got together and reached Mumbai with the girl ldquoThe incident is alarmingrdquo said an officer privy to the investigationThe trio has been arrested under Indian Penal Code Sections 363 and 363A The stringent POCSO Act has also been invoked against them Representation picOn learning during the medical examination of the victim that the minor had been raped the investigating team added sections of the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences POCSO Act The rapist is yet to be identified and arrestedDelhi visitThough the girl who seems to be the child of a footpath dweller in Delhi is unable to narrate her ordeal to the investigating team the police have been working hard to reunite her with her parents A Marine Drive police team visited New Delhi of late but their endeavours have not yielded any results till nowldquoA team of Marine Drive police was stationed near Wankhede stadium when a common citizen informed them that a girl was begging near Churchgate and she was being assaulted The piece of information was sufficient for our team members to act swiftlyrdquo said a senior officer of the Mumbai police requesting anonymityNight of the incidentA team member said ldquoWe reached the spot where the girl was found begging She looked exhausted with bedraggled hair and untidy clothes She had been stretching out her hands for food and alms in front of passengers near Churchgate stationrdquoldquoWhen we tried to speak to the girl we realised that she was deaf and mute A person standing nearby then started to speak on her behalf When we asked how he was associated with her he started to give us vague information which was unsatisfactory Soon two transgenders came to bat for the girl and told us that they had adopted her We brought all of them to the Marine Drive police station and presented them before our seniorsrdquo said one of the policemen who acted swiftly on the tipoffThe gang leader Bharati alias Rakhi 32 was accompanied by her associates Shivani alias Deepak Babulal Saini 19 and Dev Sanjay Koli 28 between Churchgate station and Wankhede stadium when Marine Drive police team received the tipoff about the minor girlThe trio has been arrested under Sections 363 kidnapping and 363A kidnapping and maiming a minor for the purposes of begging of the Indian Penal CodeldquoThough we asked all the accused who had assaulted the child sexually they are not revealing anything We have added relevant of the POCSO Act to the FIR and efforts are on to nab the assailantrdquo said an officer privy to the investigationAnother officer told midday that all the three accused belong to different states ldquoBharati hails from Seelampur in Delhi Shivani is from Agra district in Uttar Pradesh whereas Koli is from Panipat Haryanardquo said another officerldquoWe are yet to find out how the three accused got together and were found in Mumbai with an abducted girl who was raped by an unknown person This indicates a big racket but the facts will come out only if the accused who are tightlipped spill the beansrdquo the officer saidAfter extending medical assistance to the victim she was sent to a childcare centre in the cityldquoWe visited Delhi and tried to search for her parents but we are yet to trace her parentsrdquo said an officerHundreds of children go missing every day in India according to data of the National Crime Records Bureau NCRB In 2016 2017 and 2018 a total of 63407 63349 and 67134 children respectively were reported as missing from different states in the countryBegging mafiarsquos techniquesThe begging mafia abducts children who are beaten mercilessly and healthy limbs are amputated or their eyes are gouged out These are a few surefire techniques to increase onersquos earning potentialBesides kidnapping children and abducting infants from hospitals the mafiarsquos henchmen keep an eye on children who flee their homes to avoid abusive parents and escape poverty and hunger The begging gang lords who are indirectly supported by political fraternities rake in crores of rupees every monthAbducted girls are forced into the flesh trade Since the 12yearold was sexually abused the Marine Drive police team expanded their investigation wings to seek details if the trio is part of any interstate sex trade3No of accused arrested63407Missing kids reported in 201663349Missing kids reported in 201767134No of kids who were reported as missing in 2018