Bangalore: Rescued Bangladeshi girls tell brutal tales of rape and torture

Bangalore: A chance raid by the police saved 15-year-old Bangladeshi girls. They had been doped and transported from their homes to Bangalore in mid-August to be sold to brothels. One of the victims said, "They got me cake and a bottle of water and I was sleeping all the way to Bangalore." Another victim of trafficking said, "They used to beat me a lot to get me to do bad work. But I refused. It was as if my life was taken out of me but I still did not agree."

At least 15 minor girls who've been illegally trafficked from Bangladesh have been rescued over the last few months - some as young as 12. Besides, 30 more less than 21 years old were rescued. Rescue workers said that they're lured with false promises by a group of handlers. And once they reach Bangalore, they are subject to all kinds of torture, sometimes drugged, sometimes beaten black and blue, left hungry for days, even raped by many, until they fall in line.

Child Welfare Committee, Karnataka government, chairperson Meena Jain said, "They are convinced of marriage. They also think they'll have a good life if they go wherever their husband takes them and they're being exploited."

Many victims are sold into sex slavery with the knowledge of their relatives. One of the girls said, "They paid a bribe of Rs 46,000 to someone at the border. My brother-in-law Rony paid it." The pattern alarmingly shows Bangalore increasingly becoming a hub of trafficking.

Jain said, "It is a clear cut indicator that it's a well-planned activity. We've come to know, girls are brought in groups. There is no monitoring here - that could be one advantage for people who bring these girls." Some of the rescued girls have been repatriated to Bangladesh but the worry persists that they could become victims again.

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