Mahendranagar, 8 September

Five Nepali women who were being taken to India from Pashupatinagar, Nepal-India border area of Elam have been rescued. Five women from different places in the country were being lured to work and being taken for trafficking, the Pashupatinagar surveillance team rescued the women.

Maiti Nepal Pashupatinagar chief Hom Dhakal informed that the police, a surveillance team including Maiti Nepal, rescued the woman after finding out that the broker was about to cross the border and was going to cross the border on the pretext of working in Jhapa.

Chief District Officer of Ilam Shravan Kumar Pokhrel informed that among the rescued women, two were from Kanchanpur, one from Darchula, one from Baitadi, and one from Achham. He informed that when they were about to cross the border at 8 o'clock in the night when suspicious activity was noticed, the broker managed to rescue the woman when she was about to cross the border and take her to Siligadi.

Similarly, the rescued women are in the age group of 16 to 30 years. According to Prazia Pokhrel, women are being taken through the Pashupatinagar crossing to be used in Prostitution, while men are also being lured into various jobs and taken to India to sell their body parts. Prazia Pokhrel said, "Human traffickers use women for sexual activities and men for selling organs such as kidneys, hearts, and eyes."

According to Deputy Superintendent of Police of Elam, Prakash Zawegu, the police have arrested three members of the gang who were taking them to India for trafficking. Those arrested while taking the women to India are 19-year-old Upendra Badu of Mahakali Municipality 3 of Darchula, 20-year-old Sita Dhami of Malikarjun Rural Municipality 4 of Darchula and 19-year-old Sushila Dhami of Kanchanpur Devkot Municipality 2. Deputy Superintendent of Police Jawegu informed that the three arrested persons are being investigated at the area police office in Pashupatinagar.

Maiti Nepal Pashupatinagar chief Hom Dhakal has handed over three of the five rescued people to the families of Maiti Nepal and local police. Two people have been sent to the central office of Maiti Nepal in Kathmandu. According to Chief Dhakal, the two people who were taken to Kathmandu will be kept under the protection of Maiti Nepal and given skill training, and initiatives will be taken to develop their skills.

Chief Dhakal informed that Pashupatinagar crossing is becoming a transit point for human trafficking after the coronavirus epidemic. He said, "They have been taken and kept in a cell in order to get jobs in various marketing companies in India."

Women whose economic condition is weak and who have left home due to family disputes and are tempted by various temptations are more likely to fall into the trap of prostitution. According to Maiti Nepal Pashupatinagar, 20 to 30 women are rescued monthly while being taken to India for work.

According to the office, in the financial year 2079/080, 152 people who were going to India through the Pashupatinagar crossing have been entrusted to Roki families. Maiti Nepal Pashupatinagar informed that seven of the eight missing persons were rescued and handed over to their families.

According to Chief Dhakal, women from western districts of Nepal are mostly taken to India by brokers. He said that due to the open border crossings, more manpower should be mobilized to control human trafficking in the Nepal-India border area including Pashupatinagar.