NORTH LAKHIMPUR, July 23 - A 13-year-old girl was rescued by Lakhimpur Police from a household in a remote village of Damporizo in Upper Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh.
The rescued girl has been identified as Johnny, daughter of Chunilal Bhumiz of Bokanadi under Dolahat police outpost of Laluk Police Station in Lakhimpur district.
The girl was taken away by a woman five years ago when she was only 8-years-old. She was promised a decent life and education in Arunachal Pradesh. However, Bhumiz�s family received no information about her since then and it was only recently that Johnny contacted her parents over phone and informed about her �slave� status in a household located in a remote village at Damporizo.
On receiving the information, her father registered a case at Dolahat police outpost with the help of All Tea Tribe Students� Association (ATTSA). The Inspector-in-charge of Dolahat police outpost informed the matter to Lakhimpur DSP Runa Neog, the Nodal Officer of Anti Human Trafficking Unit of the district police, who contacted the Arunachal Pradesh Police to rescue the trafficked girl.
A team of Lakhimpur Police led by ASI Diganta Kalita, Head Constable Tarun Chetry, woman police Rupali Borah and driver Sahu rescued the girl from her captivity on Sunday.
The rescue of Johnny once again brings to the fore hundreds of cases of trafficked girls from Assam kept in captivity in remote areas of Arunachal Pradesh, bordering China.
During the current month for example, a girl from Behali of neighbouring Biswanath village was rescued from captivity as a �slave� for nine years in Taksin, 300 kms north of Daporizo. The girl, identified as Puja, was taken from her parents when she was only 7-years-old.
In Taksin, Puja was forced to work as a �slave� with little food and clothes. She had to work for more than 12 hours in jhum plantations along with dozens of trafficked children from Assam.
The important angle to this unabated trafficking of girls from north Assam to Arunachal Pradesh is the use of mobile phones and subsequent transportation of the victims. The targeted victims are contacted directly by the traffickers pretending to be fiancees, who lure them for marriage. The girls are asked to take Tata Sumo taxis operated from various places like North Lakhimpur and Tezpur for destinations inside Arunachal Pradesh. The drivers of these taxis play an important role in picking and dropping the girls.
This is a common scenario in every household in Arunachal Pradesh, where many young people from Assam are engaged as �slaves� after they are lured by traffickers who promise them jobs and better living conditions.
