BHUBANESWAR: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued a conditional summons to the principal secretary of the home department and the Cuttack SP (CB-CID) for appearing before it in person on March 17 with a detailed report of a case of trafficking and sexual exploitation of poor children in Ganjam, Bhubaneswar and other parts of the state.
The rights panel passed this order on December 28 last year after hearing a petition filed by social activist, Radhakanta Tripathy, on March 8, 2016. The commission has cited an incident of trafficking and sexual exploitation of a minor girl from Ganjam in 2015.
According to the complaint, one Narayan Dash from Bariguda in Ganjam district had allegedly kidnapped an eight-year-old girl from a nearby village on November 25, 2015 when she had gone to witness some rituals on the occasion of Kartika Purnima. The accused had taken the girl to Burupada and sexually exploited her there.
Later, he had engaged her in begging at different places. The accused had even sold off her earrings for Rs 2,000 in a jewellery store. The girl was rescued and admitted to the MKCG Medical College Hospital, Berhampur.
Tripathy also informed the commission about a former model, who was also found engaging minors in begging at the Bhubaneswar railway station, and collecting money from them in 2015. A few days after the incident, eight women were traced by the police on the charges of kidnapping children and forcing them into begging in Bhubaneswar.
“These are a few reported incidents, but several cases go unreported. It goes to show the failure of the government in dealing with these issues. The problems of trafficking of children for begging, sexual exploitation and manual labour are seen in various districts of Odisha,” Tripathy said. Earlier, the NHRC had observed that the problem of trafficking of children for various illegal purposes is endemic in Odisha. Following this, the state government had informed the commission about the Odisha Victim Compensation Scheme, 2017, and the creation of anti-human trafficking units. The commission has directed them to appear in person at 11am on March 17, along with a copy of the report.