In Jharkhand’s backyard, where cartels of slavery agents and brothels run unabated human trafficking rackets, another minor girl falls prey to rape by her employer after being trafficked to Gurugram, Delhi.
In a heart-wrenching case that has come to light in the midst of hushed sounds of torture and turmoil that a young girl went through and bore a child as a result of repeated abuse and incomparable adversity, the said child holds out his hand looking for acceptance in the world.
The victim is a minor belonging to a tiny village called Gumla in Jharkand who was brought to Delhi by an agency. Her parents, who work in brick kilns, and younger sister are in Gumla. She was then appointed as a nanny at a residence in Sector 31 in the vicinity of Gurugram. Alongside the idea of being a child labour in the 21st century, certain instances are the brutal enough send chills down the spine.
The girl’s ordeal started 5-6 months after since she arrived in Gurugram in November 2016. The accused, Mohit Prasad Thakur, aged 27, who was a cook for the same employer raped the girl whenever he found her alone or when their employers went out and threatened to tarnish her image if she uttered a single word. The girl kept mum for fear of losing her job.
After 6-7 months of pregnancy after her gruesome rape, the victim started showing signs of a baby bump and her deteriorating health posed as a red flag to the employers, who then questioned her. The girl eventually broke down and confided everything.
The employers then reported the matter to the police and an FIR was filed under sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC at the Women’s police station. Medical examinations were done, which revealed it was too late to terminate the pregnancy.
On Thursday morning, she delivered a baby girl at General Hospital in Civil Lines. But she has not seen the child since, hospital officials said.
“She reminds me of what I suffered,” the traumatised mother reported to the Times of India reporter as tears rolled down her cheeks. “I cannot take her to my village (in Gumla) because no one will understand that it was not my fault,” she added.
“We are trying to counsel the girl. At the end of the day, she is the mother. Once the child is sent for adoption, there will be no looking back for the baby or the mother. The victim is in trauma right now and we want to give her some time to decide,” said Rishikant, founder, NGO Shakti Vahini.
Balkrishan Goel, a member of the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, said, “If even after the counselling, the survivor refuses to take the child, the baby will be surrendered for adoption.”
The trafficking network has been put under scrutiny and police sources said Naraiyan was suspected to be the main trafficker. He used to run Bharti Maid Bureau in Delhi’s Shakurpur area earlier and was wanted by police since 2013. The girl was, however, brought to Delhi by Deepak from Devi Placement Service in Pitam Pura. The police are investigating if Deepak was an aide of Naraiyan.
“Mohit had been working at our house since 2013. He would sleep on the second floor and she would sleep on the ground floor with us. He used to rape her when we were all out. We reported the matter to the police as soon as we got to know about it and have been looking after her ever since,” Sapna, one of the employers told the Times of India.
Mohit had already gone home to Harraiya, Uttar Pradesh, on leave and never returned. The police are yet to arrest him as he is absconding. Shockingly, the cops did not report the matter to the child welfare committee even though the girl was claimed to be a minor, at least at the time when she was raped for the first time.
The girl cannot contact her family members as they do not have mobiles and neither can she go back with the child as the village won’t accept her. Yet what remains to be seen is if she takes the child or puts it up for adoption and if the accused along with the trafficking network are apprehended and punished.
Image source: Getty images