From CK Nayak
NEW DELHI: At a time when unemployment is on the rise and the economy is racked with pain, abominable cases of girls from North East and neighbouring countries being lured by shady companies on the pretext of glamorous careers has come to light.
News about Stormy TV is being circulated through social media that claims that the platform is trying to get attention from WESEA (Western South East Asia) girls in a bid to recruit them for prostitution in other Asian countries on the pretext of recruiting them for modelling and stage performance.
Such a platform organises online auditions, selfie contests through their website and collects private photos and details of many young girls, especially from North East, according to a statement of Manipur Students’ Association, Delhi.
Girls from the North East, who mostly work in the hospitality sector, have been the worst-affected due to the closure of workplaces in view of the lockdown. Since educational institutions are also shut, they cannot study further and cannot get job elsewhere.
According to the viral post, which has been circulating through WhatsApp and Facebook, such platforms are not even related to modelling and reality shows.
To entice the unsuspecting girls, they even offer prizes, opportunity to be a model and contract workers, the MSAD president said in a press statement.
It is ironical how few people from North East are involved in the recruiting process, MSAD statement said.
“Such foul play could also be a part of racism,” it added.
With developing technology, many young girls are being targeted for different filthy activities, driven to the wrong path through tempting websites and social media platforms with ulterior motives, the statement said.
It demanded that authenticity and legitimacy of every such platform and the persons behind these platforms should be investigated.
“Once trapped in such activities, victims are threatened and blackmailed to remain silent, not to expose the truth,” the MSAD cautioned.
Only in February, acting on a tip-off from the Maiti Nepal that a large number of Nepali citizens were being trafficked to southeast Asian and Gulf countries via Indo-Myanmar border, the Meghalaya-based Impulse NGO Network had intimated the local authority, which acted promptly and foiled the trafficking bid.
In total, 147 women were rescued from Imphal Airport, various hotels from across Manipur before they would cross Moreh — that falls along the India-Myanmar border.
Incidentally, the term ‘WESEA’ is used to describe the region in which they operate: North East India, Bhutan, North Bengal and Myanmar.