Jamshedpur, July 18: Fifteen-year-old Budhni Munda of Bhatkudna village was married to a man, working in Mumbai. Years after her marriage, the family came to know that their son-in-law had already fathered three children before his marriage to Budhni. Like Budhni, 18-year-old Lakshmi Behra of Chakulia village and 16-year-old Vinti Sarkar of Bhakrisol village, suffered the same fate.

Singhbhum Gramin Mahila Unyan Samiti (SGMUS), a non-government organisation of Chakulia block, recently has busted a marriage racket in five villages of the block.

The NGO busted the racket after conducting a survey in 15 villages, which threw up 11 cases of girls being forced into prostitution by the grooms after getting married in cities outside the state.

Most of the girls, who fell victim to the racket, were from Chakulia, Bakrisol, Aamdangra, Bhatkunda and Uchasor villages.

According to officials of the NGO, girls from poor families, who wed off to grooms from the bigger cities, were later used for flesh trade. The official said after keeping the girl for a couple of months the “husband” sells her to work as call girls.

According to Shefali Mahto, convenor of the Singhbhum Gramin Mahila Unyan Samiti, these girls are used as the future agents of the pimps to trap innocent girls into the marriage racket.