‘Sold for Rs 4 lakh’, Sundergarh minor girl rescued from Rajasthan

New Delhi: The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) rescued a minor girl of Sundergarh district who was allegedly trafficked to Rajasthan in December 2017. As per reports, the anti-trafficking squad of the DCW raided a place in Jhunjhunu of Rajasthan and rescued the minor girl after her family sought their intervention.

The 16-year-old minor girl is pregnant and has been brought to Delhi.

Father of the minor girl, a resident of Lathikata of Sundergarh, alleged that his daughter was sold-off to one Pawan Agarwal and Kisan Agarwal of Rajasthan two years back. Moreover, the relatives sold the girl without the knowledge of family, alleged the girl's father.

“My relatives had sold my daughter to Pawan Agarwal and Kisan Agarwal of Rajasthan after kidnapping her. Following this, I lodged a police complaint at Lathikata. But the local police did not take any action. In January, I had approached the Delhi Commission for Women to rescue my daughter,” said the girl’s father.

Informing about the rescue of the girl, DCW chief Swati Maliwal yesterday tweeted, “DCW rescued a 16 year old Oriya girl from Rajasthan. She was trafficked for Rs 4 lac. Her father appealed 2 all but none helped. He came all d way to DCW & though wasn’t our jurisdiction, we rescued her on humanitarian ground. Wonder if we can rescue her in 1 day, y system just sleeps?”

DCW chief Swati Maliwal on the other hand today questioned lack of action on part of Odisha Police in dealing with the sensitive issue despite repeated requests by the girl's father. She also urged Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik to take necessary action against the errant police officials for such lapses.