India's National Commission for Women (NCW) and rights activists have slammed the Rajasthan government following reports of girls aged 8-18 being sold off by families on stamp papers to pay off their debts in the Bhilwara district.
Mariam Dhawale, general secretary of the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), told Sputnik that they have been raising the issues of trafficking across India, especially in Rajasthan.
"Trafficking in recent years of young girls has increased a lot. Young girls were convinced to travel with strangers at the behest of false promises that their life quality would improve. And even parents agree to send their girls to other towns as poverty is so deep that they don't know what to do. This is happening, and this is reality. The problem is that the government, no matter which government, refuses to acknowledge that this is happening in the first place. First, they need to acknowledge the problem to find a solution. Women's issues are not coming on the agenda of polls. Women's issues like domestic violence, no party wants to speak about it, women organizations and studies only acknowledge it. Leave other issues nowadays, rape victims are coming out on bail, and people are looking at victims with criminalized mindset, the whole atmosphere is so anti-women that it would be a very long fight for the women."
According to a report published in the Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar, the girls are auctioned off as repayment of loans.
Yogita Bhayana, a women's rights activist who once worked in Bhilwara, told Sputnik that child marriage is quite prevalent in Bhilwara and its neighboring districts. "Girls at the age of six or seven are promised to be married off to other families. Although, child marriage is illegal in India, it's prevalent in Rajasthan. But so far we have not heard about selling off girls."
“Here, girls are being sold and sent for trafficking. It's a heinous crime,” she remarked.
The newspaper report claimed that if a girl refuses to go, their mothers are raped on the diktat of caste panchayats to settle the debts. “These girls are sent to Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Mumbai, Delhi and even foreign countries,” the daily stated, while mentioning numerous case studies on the topic.
On Friday, the NCW took cognizance of the matter and formed a two-member fact-finding team on the issue.
Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala remarked that Rajasthan had become a dangerous place for the women.
“Shocking case of young girls being auctioned on a stamp paper in Bhilwara, Rajasthan! Stories of sexual slavery from barbaric times 500 years ago happened under Congress! Under Gehlot, Rajasthan has become most unsafe for women! But Priyanka Vadra is silent,” Poonawala stated, while taking a swipe at Congress politician Priyanka Vadra, known for raising women's issues.
Bhayana also questioned the government's silence and said that “child marriage is prevalent in Rajasthan. No state politicians have condemned the matter as they do not want to displease the voters. Government silence is enough.”
On Friday, Rajasthan Minister Pratap Khachariyawas denied the reports of girls being sold in the state.
"It is a matter of investigation. When such information comes out, we can't know the truth until there is a probe. NHRC (National Human Rights Commission) should have spoken to the Rajasthan police first about this. Selling of girls doesn't happen in the state," Khachariyawas said.
Meanwhile, the NHRC on Thursday sent a notice to the Rajasthan government and directed the state's chief secretary to submit a detailed report on the matter, along with an action taken report, within four weeks.