Girls from West Bengal, Bangladesh trafficked in city

Chennai city has reportedly become a crucial point for trafficking of women as several instances of women from West Bengal and Bangladesh being moved through the city to other districts in the state have come to the attention of the media. Local policemen are unable to effectively intervene, and a number of cases go unnoticed.  The issue comes to the fore when specialised Anti-Trafficking Cell (ATC) of CB-CID jumps into action after getting tip-offs. 

A senior CB-CID official on condition of anonymity revealed, “We do have cases of trafficking from places like West Bengal and Dhaka. However, the numbers are not significant. Poor girls are brought to the city under the guise of providing employment and are forced into flesh trade.”

 Several cases of trafficking have been identified and busted by the CB-CID ATC in recent years. Local police, however, do seem to be active on this front, except in some cases booked by the Anti-Vice Squad in which also the victims would be mostly from Tamil Nadu. 

According to ATC sources there were no organised local gangs here which traffic women out of the state. “We had some cases where women from poor families hailing from rural Tamil Nadu are lured with offers of job. 

In many cases, we have seen close relatives forcing girls in to prostitution in Tamil Nadu. All these victims are mostly brought to cities like Chennai or Coimbatore and are rarely trafficked outside,” another official said. 

Many girls who run away from their homes due to parental torture, or family issues also land in the hands of flesh trade rackets in the city. There are organised gangs operating out of Bengaluru and Mumbai that specialises in trapping rural girls. “Chennai and regions in Kerala are hubs. 

Chennai is preferred for its affluent single men demographic. We also face issues of rehabilitation of the rescued victims as most of them do not have a place to go back,” the official added.