Hope at the end of the tunnel for Bangladesh sex victims

KOZHIKODE: At last, the ordeal is over for the four Bangladeshi  girls, victims of sex-trafficking. Their return to their native places in Bangladesh was put on hold due to legal formalities as there were a few pending cases in various courts of the state and in Karnataka. Seven men and a woman were released earlier. One of the four girls residing at the After Care Home will start her return journey on Sunday with the escort of police officials deputed by city police commissioner Uma Behra till the border. 

The other three girls living at Mahila Mandir will return on September 6. Thanks to the efforts of the district administration headed by N. Prasanth which coordinated various departments, ‘Arm of Joy,’  a city -based organization, Punarjani, the women advocates’ forum and the Kerala Legal Service Authority. It was ‘Arm of Joy’ which first brought to light the plight of the victims, including girls trapped in various government-run homes. Sub-judge R.L. Baiju said that the procedures for the release  from many technical hurdles of law was a big task, but all the officials concerned took special interest in the case. 

The National Human Rights Commission and Kerala High Court had also intervened. The details of their release was  passed officially to the girls at  a get-together organized at Mahila Mandir on Saturday. The officials who  played key roles in the release, including District Legal Services Authority chairman and district judge T.S.P. Moosath, sub-judge R.L. Baiju, city police commissioner Uma Behra, assistant commissioner M.P. Premdas and other officials were present at the  Mahila Mandir. 

Collector N. Prasanth, who was on a foreign trip, and ‘Arm of Joy’ managing trustee G. Anoop, the two key architects of the release, were  absent. Mr Anoop told DC that he was  happy that the girls were finally being released. “It is the result of almost eight months of struggle by ‘Arm of Joy’ with the  legal support of Punarjani,”  he said and added  that he was not  invited for the farewell party at the Mahila Mandir. “More disgusting was the attempt by some top officials to claim that the release was the result of their own efforts,”  he added.