A 14-year-old pregnant girl, ‘rescued’ by
Hatia GRP on April 22, escaped from a transit home near Ranchi Lake in
the small hours on Sunday reportedly to live with men who assaulted her
sexually, child welfare authorities claimed.
Though her story is sketchy, it is a pointer to the endless trauma that trafficked teenage girls go through.
The fatherless
minor, originally from Sahir Sarnatoli village, Nagri police station
area, was taken to New Delhi by a placement agency broker some months
ago.
She was spotted at
Hatia station some six weeks ago by two auto drivers identified as Raju
and Ravi, who allegedly took her to their room in Kalyanpur locality,
held her captive for over a month and gang-raped her.
They dumped at Hatia station on April 18 evening apparently when she became pregnant.
Then, other auto drivers tried to take “advantage”.
On April 21, at
first, Hatia GRP simply chased her away, and she reached Ranchi station.
There, the GRP shunted her to Hatia counterparts, who finally, handed
her over to Diya Sewa Sansthan on April 22, where she stayed for two
days, said Diya Sewa Sansthan secretary Sita Swansi.
As child welfare
commission members directed Anchal Shishu Ashram to take over her
upkeep, the girl was shunted there on April 24.
The panel’s
chairperson K.P. Sinha added the girl was repeatedly heard saying that
she wanted to go back to live with Ravi, who had “promised” to marry
her.
“We assured her
that her wish to marry Ravi could be given sympathetic consideration.
But she escaped from Anchal Shishu Ashram at 1.30 am today,” said Sinha.
The incident puts a
big question mark over security at rescue centres. Insiders believe the
accused auto drivers executed the girl’s escape to evade arrest.
“This is a big social problem in Jharkhand,” said SSP Saket Kumar Singh.