Rescue of Shillong girls from Silchar brothel
SHILLONG: The National Human Rights Commission, while expressing concern over the trafficking of two Shillong girls, who were rescued from a brothel in Silchar, has pulled up the police in Silchar for their laxity in not arresting the culprits involved.
The NHRC has asked the SP Silchar to complete further investigation on the involvement of the policemen in helping those who run the prostitution racket, within four weeks.
NHRC was reacting to the complaint lodged by one of the two victims and CSWO President Agnes Kharshiing.
As per the complaints of the victim, she and her friend were trafficked to the brothel at Silchar three years back and were forced into prostitution.
The complainant said that when she tried to escape, the Silchar police, after taking a bribe handed her back to the brothel owners identified as Rattan and Geetha Singh.
The victim also said that her friend was missing as she had been shifted to another brothel. However, later the second victim returned to Shillong.
After an FIR was lodged in Silchar, Geetha was arrested and a charge sheet was filed against her another accused Raju Pal who is the proclaimed offender.
The NHRC said that after the Commission had sought the views of the NGO leader Kharshiing, she had stated that the police was hand in glove with traffickers and even sent a photograph of a police man identified as one Mintoo who had helped the brothel owner.
Taking exception to the police inaction, the Commission said that it appears that the policeman Mintoo was never put up for identification by the complainant.
“Hence there is no merit in the statement of SP Silchar that the complainant could not name or identify the policeman who allegedly helped the accused Geetha Singh”, the Commission said.
According to NHRC, there appears to be a deliberate attempt to cover up the involvement of the policeman against whom specific allegation was made.
NHRC has asked the SP of Sichar to investigate the matter further and also to take the help of the trafficked victims for the identification of policemen and others involved.
The Commission asked the SP to send the report within four weeks.
Moreover, another direction of the Commission was to help the victims to get the compensation from Assam Government under Assam Victim Compensation Scheme 2012.