Abducted girl called up parents for help

The police have spoken to the accused over phone, yet both the victim and the culprit remain at large

Abducted girl called up parents for help

The police have spoken to the accused over phone, yet both the victim and the culprit remain at large

This is a story about a teenage girl who led her parents as well as the police to the people who trafficked her from Siliguri in West Bengal to Delhi.

Ironically, the police have been able to trace the culprits but the 16-year-old is yet to be reunited with her family. The brave teenager called up her parents from Bihar that her abductors were driving her to Delhi in a car with the registration number DL 4C AG 5809.

The West Bengal police registered a case on December 2 on the complaint of the girl's parents. Based on the leads given by the girl, the West Bengal police traced the driver of the black Santro car who confirmed that three girls were brought from Siliguri and delivered to Sundar Singh, a resident of Shakarpur in east Delhi.

He owns a house in Siliguri too which was damaged by locals after his cover was blown following the police complaint by the abducted girls' parents. Interestingly, several photographs of young girls were recovered from Singh's house.

The victim's relatives also visited Shakarpur police station after which the Station House Officer sent the beat officer to Singh's shop, Sundar Motors, at Car Bazar, Main Road, Shakarpur. Sundar in fact has married twice and his first wife told the beat officer that he rarely visits her and stayed at some unknown place in east Delhi with his second wife Sandhya.

Sandhya too has been arrested in similar cases earlier. Following the police raid at his house, Sundar called up the victim's relatives and threatened them not to approach the police again but during one of his calls the family managed to make the beat officer overhear it. When the policeman talked to him on the mobile phone number 9732915486. Singh pleaded with him that he would hand over the girl at Shakarpur police station, however, a fortnight has passed and Singh is still absconding.

Karma Dorjee Yolmo, officer in charge of Jaldhaka police station in West Bengal, raided Sandhya's house in New Ashok Nagar last week. However, she had already vacated the house.

"We could not arrest her, we have to produce the driver and others before the court. We have told our Delhi counterparts that an east Delhi resident is the prime suspect in the case. It is also suspected that the girls whose photographs were recovered from Singh's Siliguri house might have been trafficked too. We hope to arrest him and rescue the girls as soon as possible," Yolmo told MiD DAY.

A senior police official posted at Shakarpur police station said the mobile phone from which Singh called up is being tracked. "We are on Singh's tail and he will be arrested soon."

Importation of Girls

(Sec. 366-B IPC), (Incidence...61)
A decrease of 9% has been observed in such cases as 61 cases were reported during 2007 as compared to 67 cases in the previous year (2006).

Only Bihar (56) and West Bengal (5) have reported such cases accounting for 91.8% and 8.2% respectively of total such cases at the national level.

Procuration of Minor Girls

(Sec. 366A IPC), (Incidence...253)
253 cases were reported in 2007 as compared to 231 such cases in 2006, accounting for 9.5% increase over 2006.

West Bengal has reported 54 such cases indicating a share of 21.3% at national level followed by Andhra Pradesh (37) and Bihar (36). An increasing trend was observed in these cases during the last three years.

Figures: National Crime Records Bureau

Selling of Girls for Prostitution

(Sec. 372 IPC), (Incidence...69)
69 cases of 'Selling of Girls for Prostitution' were reported in the country during 2007 against 123 such cases in 2006, thereby indicating a decline of 43.9% over 2006. West Bengal has accounted for 79.7% (55 cases out of 69 cases) of the total such cases reported in the country.

Reported Incidents of crime

(Incidence...4,087)
A total of 4,087 incidents of crimes under various provisions of laws relating to human trafficking were reported in the country during 2007 as compared to 5,096 during 2006 recording a decrease of 19.8% during 2007. 5,850 cases relating to human trafficking were reported during 2003 as compared to 6,175 and 6,402 cases reported in 2004 and 2005.

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