Kidnapper turns out to be sex trade victim

POLICE INITIALLY FACED ISSUES IN COMMUNICATING WITH THE VICTIM AS SHE DID NOT KNOW HINDI

Early in the morning on Friday, Bhiwandi police received a tip-off that a “Bangladeshi woman” had abducted a 4-month-old baby from Dombivli and reached the state transport bus depot at Bhiwandi with the child. Around the same time, S Raj (name changed to protect identity) filed a complaint at the Manpada police station in Dombivali, saying his 4-month-old baby boy Viraj had been kidnapped by a girl who was living with his family.

By Friday evening though, the narrative had changed entirely. The “Bangladeshi woman”, who was traced and arrested by the afternoon, was actually a 17-year-old girl from Bagerhat district in the neighbouring country who was allegedly trafficked into India with her mother and aunt and forced into prostitution by S Raj, who was from the same village as her, said police officials. The police are now in the process of booking Raj for kidnapping the minor girl with her mother and aunt and forcing her into flesh trade.

According to police sources, the girl lived in Bangladesh with her mother, who worked as a farm labourer. Three months ago, they met a woman who said her brother-in-law Raj lived in Dombivli near Mumbai, where there were vacancies in a few companies for garment-related work. She asked the mother and daughter to check if other women from the village too were interested in the work.

“Some days later, the girl, her mother and aunt were brought into India illegally. Three or four different persons who were relatives of Raj transported them from one place to another till they reached Kalyan via train, where Raj picked them up,” said a police officer.

Raj allegedly took the three women to his residence in Dombivali’s Manpada area. The next day, he took the girl’s mother and aunt to some other place saying they had to attend a job interview. While they did not return, the girl continued staying in Raj’s house, and all three were allegedly forced into prostitution, said police.

“Raj began sending her to different elder men at two hotels near his house, as well as on two- or three-day trips with clients to Sambhaji Nagar and other districts. The girl tried resisting, but he threatened her, saying he would leak her videos in compromising position and kill her mother and aunt,” said the police officer.

The girl pleaded with Raj to at least allow her to meet her mother for nearly three months, but to no avail. Desperate for a way out, she decided to kidnap Raj’s four-month-old baby.

“At around 4 am on Friday, when everyone was in deep sleep, she took the baby boy and the mobile phones of all family members and fled,” said the police officer. “She contacted people in her village who gave her details of a person from Bhiwandi who could help her. She then took a rickshaw and reached Bhiwandi.”

By that afternoon, both she and the baby boy were traced and brought to Bhiwandi crime branch by assistant police inspector Dhanraj Kedar and constables Maya Dongare and Amol Desai. The girl was later handed over to the Dombivli Manpada police for further investigation.

VT Kadbane, senior inspector at Manpada police station, said, “It appears that the girl was taking care of Raj’s child. We are trying to verify all details and investigate all angles.” The Bhiwandi crime branch has written to the Manpada police to book Raj for kidnapping and forcing the women into flesh trade.