Monday, 11 March 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
Authorities suspect she was being trafficked to another country
The Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) rescued a Nepali minor girl from Nainital and arrested a 24- year- old man who had allegedly kept her confined to a house in Bhimtal area for about the past three months. She was supposed to be taken to Kerala soon possibly to be trafficked to another country from there, as per the officials. The officials informed that the accused was identified as Mohammad Israfil Ansari who was residing with a minor teenage girl from Nepal in Nainital’s Bhimtal. According to a statement from a non- governmental organisation Mission Mukti Foundation that was involved in the search for the girl, the accused is a resident of Birgunj city of Nepal’s Parsa district and the victim belongs to Nepal’s Shivpur. These areas are only a few kilometres away from Bihar. The officials said that the accused befriended her on Instagram and introduced himself as Munna Mahato. He allegedly lured her with the promise of marriage and both eloped from Nepal to Uttarakhand in December last year. The officials also informed that her family members started searching for her after she went missing. Her mother also reportedly received a call from a WhatsApp number after around a month in which the caller told her to forget about her daughter. A Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) unit stationed in the Bettiah region of Bihar received a complaint from Nepal regarding this case. The SSB unit contacted the Nainital senior superintendent of police Prahlad Narayan Meena requesting assistance in finding the victim. The Nainital police started the investigation and nabbed the accused from Bhimtal on March 6. The officials said that the accused had duped the girl by posing as a Hindu man and brought her from Nepal to Nainital under the pretext of marriage. They purportedly got married in a temple at Ghodakhal and started living in Bhimtal. He also sexually assaulted the minor girl on numerous occasions during this time, the officials claimed. The police have registered a case against him under various laws including the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. They said that the girl stated that the accused had frequently discussed going to Kerala with her. The whole matter appears to be of human trafficking that might be connected to other States or countries. The authorities are investigating his motive in luring the victim to take her to Kerala. The victim is presently living under the protection of the child welfare committee and will soon be sent back to her home in Nepal after the completion of required legal proceedings, the officials added.
