Flesh trade racketeers trapping N-E girls with skill training trick
HORRIFIC 2 girls from Arunachal languishing in Lko jail since month
LUCKNOW: Two young girls from Arunachal Pradesh’s Tirap district landed in Lucknow police net when they were sent here on the pretext of providing them jobs after giving them a monthlong training in beauty and spa therapy.
The two, who unknowingly landed in a flesh trade racket, are languishing in jail since nearly a month after being arrested from Ayurvedic Thai Spa and Saloon in Vinay Khand-4 in Gomti Nagar on November 10.
Their case has brought to the fore a horrific racket wherein girls from north-eastern states are pushed into flesh trade after luring them with skill development training and jobs.
One of the girls is intermediate pass out while the other passed high school this year and was planning to study further after earning some money.
The girls’ family members, who remained unaware about their arrest for around 20 days, are camping in Lucknow and making efforts for their bail from the high court, after the sessions court rejected their bail application.
The girls’ parents said the police should have at least verified their credentials before sending them to jail.
“When we met the girls at Lucknow jail, they told us they were unaware about the illegal activities going on at the spa. They were booked by police for no fault of theirs,” the parents said.
One girl’s father said the duo, who are neighbours in Tirap, got enrolled in a skill development programme at the Guwahati centre of Delhi-based Amazing Networks Private Limited on May 5 this year. He further said the company had also put up a board of providing training under the prime minister’s skill development scheme at its centre in Kahilipara, Guwahati.
The parent said the training organisers sent the girls to Lemon Spa and Massage Centre near Tedipulia in Lucknow on June 24 for internship after providing them a month-long training.
THE GIRLS’ PARENTS SAID THE POLICE SHOULD HAVE AT LEAST VERIFIED THEIR CREDENTIALS BEFORE SENDING THEM TO JAIL.
“The girls worked there for some time and were later sent to the Gomti Nagar saloon on assurance of job. They were arrested from there,” he said.
Senior high court lawyer IB Singh, who is pursuing the girls’ case, said initial findings suggest some skill development centres are pushing north-east girls into flesh trade after luring them with training for jobs.
He said the girls’ parents have their skill development programme enrolment letters and other related documents and alleged that Lucknow police showed negligence while booking the girls, without verifying facts.
Singh said he will file the girls’ bail application and inform the court about the sequence of events and police negligence.
He said the police did not even inform the girls’ families after the arrest and they remained unaware about the development for over three weeks.
“The girls’ families reached here with help of a social organisation and are now struggling to get them bailed out of jail, where they are languishing although they have not committed any crime,” Singh said.
Circle officer of Gomti Nagar Deepak Kumar Singh, who led the police raid on the spa and is the complainant in case, had mentioned in the FIR that the two girls, along with 10 others, including five other local girls, were involved in the flesh trade.
Circle officer of Cantonment Tanu Upadhyaya is investigation officer in the case.
Senior superintendent of police, Lucknow, Deepak Kumar said he was aware about the incident and was trying to help out the two girls, “who unknowingly fell into the trap of flesh trade racketeers.” He said social organisation Vivekananda Kendra had informed him about the case.