Surat: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said that the shocking incident of minors and women being sold as sex slaves happened in 2005 when BJP was in power in the state. During his interaction with the media here on Friday, he said that it was Congress that exposed the racket. Gehlot alleged that AAP and BJP were indulging in mud-slinging to gain mileage out of it and to defame the Congress government.
"The incident happened in 2005 when BJP was in power. In 2019, we came and exposed it. In all, 21 accused have been arrested, three died and one is absconding. Two children died, rest went to their homes," Gehlot said on reports of girls auctioned on stamp papers in Bhilwara. The chairperson of the Rajasthan State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Sangeeta Beniwal, on Saturday held a meeting at the Collectorate in Bhilwara over the matter. The District Collector, SP and other officials were also present.
Also read: 'Girls auctioned, mothers raped' to settle debt in Rajasthan: NHRC serves notice to state govt
“I came to know from the DSP and the Collector that this case is from 2019. Out of six girls, four have been rehabilitated and two are in girls' homes as they're from other states. I'll reach them soon and get complete information,” Beniwal said.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) recently served a notice on the Government of Rajasthan on the reported auctioning of girls on stamp papers and the refusal thereof resulting in the rape of their mothers to settle disputes on the diktats of Caste Panchayats in the State. The NHRC in a press release on Thursday said it has taken suo motu cognizance of a media report.
According to the report, whenever there is a dispute between the two parties particularly involving financial transactions and loans, the girls aged between 8 and 18 are auctioned to recover money, added the press release. These girls are being sent to UP, MP, Mumbai, Delhi and even foreign countries and subjected to physical abuse, torture and sexual assault in slavery.
The media reports have documented the ordeal of many victims of such horrendous crimes, the NHRC said in the statement. The Commission has observed that the contents of the report, if true, amount to human rights violations of the victims of the such abominable practice. Accordingly, it has issued a notice to the Chief Secretary of Rajasthan calling for a detailed report on the matter, along with an action taken report.
