Three minors rescued from sex trade excel in SSC exam

Nagpur: Three minors, aged between 15 and 17 years, who were rescued from flesh trade around a year ago by Wathoda police, have turned the wheels of their fate by adopting education and scoring high marks in the SSC examination. City police played a key role in rehabilitating the minors post the rescue.
The girls, who scored 81.40%, 73.80% and 72.60% respectively, were rescued after the women who initiated them into flesh trade at Rs 500 per client were arrested.
Hailing from economically weak backgrounds and raised by single parent mothers, the girls were drop-outs.
Apart from rescuing them, senior inspector Ashalata Khapre of Wathoda police station had kept on challenging their families’ plea before the court against releasing the girls from Karuna Mahila Vastigruha, a government shelter home, which could have resulted in pushing them back into the flesh trade.
The girls, who were school mates in the past, were sent to the shelter home after rescue following an order from the Child Welfare Committee.
“We had sensed a possibility of these minors getting re-inducted into the flesh trade as they had developed a habit of being in the profession and may have been rescued in the past too,” said Khapre.
Khapre, following the vision of city police chief Amitesh Kumar of busting sex trade and rehabilitating the rescued, said she had ensured the three minors got the opportunities to return to the mainstream. “We had provided a woman cop and a police vehicle for 13 days during the examination so that the girls could commute to-and-from from their centre,” said Khapre, adding, the girls are ready to abandon their earlier path and adopt an academic career.
According to sources from the women and child development department, NGO ‘Save the Children of India’ also played a crucial role in helping the minors resume their studies. “The minors were admitted in a night school. They were also provided with social media platforms for online studies and a teacher to help them,” said the source.
It’s learnt one of the three girls has already expressed her intention to pursue a nursing career while another wants to enroll in ITI. The third girl aims to complete her graduation first before taking a call on her future.
According to an official, the three girls are already into stitching and tailoring which has also opened a vista for them to start their own boutiques and get into fashion industry too.
The shelter home officials and the NGO are learnt to be focusing on ensuring the girls are rehabilitated.
HOW IT HAPPENED
* Three minors rescued from flesh trade and sent to government shelter homes
* Cops oppose families’ attempts to free them from shelter home through court
* Girls sent to night school and provided special teachers
* Sr PI Ashalata Khapre ensured police escort and vehicle for girls to reach exam centre
* Minors, aged between 15 and 17 years, got 81.40%, 73.80% and 72.60% respectively in SSC exam