Guwahati, Oct. 20: A 16-year-old girl has been rescued from a Haryana village by an NGO, Shakti Vahini, in a joint operation with the anti human trafficking unit of Haryana police and Bhiwani district police.

The girl, a native of Assam’s Kamrup district, was allegedly sedated and lured out of Assam by one Abdul and was being forced to marry a Haryana villager.

The girl told counsellors that Abdul used to follow her whenever she ventured out from home and gradually convinced her to elope with him. On the day she was trafficked, Abdul took her to a restaurant and allegedly gave her some sedatives mixed with the food. He then took her to a Haryana village, saying that they were going to his sister’s house. Instead, he took her to one Ajit and sold her off for Rs 45,000. The girl learned this from the owner of the house where she was kept. Ajit abused her in all ways possible. She was made to do household chores the whole day and at night. He also abused her sexually.

The girl’s family had lodged a missing complaint with Noonmati police on October 5, 2012. Rashi Kant, a member of the NGO, said, “Shakti Vahini received the information by email that a 16-year-old girl from Assam had been trafficked. The girl had reportedly called her family once and said she was being held captive in a Haryana village.”

The NGO then asked Haryana additional director general of police (crime) K. Selvaraj for assistance.

The girl was subsequently traced to Pinjkhara village of Bhiwani district and rescued.

Shakti Vahini members and police first raided the address corresponding to the mobile number from which the girl had called. But nobody was found there. Later, the rescue team found out that a person in Pinjokhara village was using the said number. The team rushed there and raided a house, successfully rescuing the girl this time.

After the rescue yesterday, the police made a daily diary entry and Shakti Vahini counselled the girl and then sent her for medical examination. Following the check-up, she was sent to a shelter home.

In the meantime, a Shakti Vahini representative coordinated with the Guwahati senior superintendent of police Anand Prakash Tiwari, who assured the NGO that a police team would be sent to Haryana soon to bring the girl back.

An FIR (number 390/12) was also lodged in Noonmati police station yesterday under Sections 366A/372/120B/34 of the IPC, Sections 3 and 4 of the Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act and Sections 23 and 26 of the Juvenile Justice Act.

Shakti Vahini president Ravi Kant said, “The situation is highly alarming. Trafficking for forced marriage is the ramification of the skewed sex ratio in Haryana. Female foeticide in Haryana is causing a serious gender imbalance, which is finally devastating lives of girls. The fall in sex ratio people is creating a shortage of brides and for this, people are resorting to trafficking to get their sons married. Recently, several cases of human trafficking have been reported from Haryana.”