Palghar, 11 Aug

A 14-year-old Bangladeshi girl rescued from a sex racket in Maharashtra's Palghar district has told police she was sexually assaulted by at least 200 men in a span of three months, an official said on Monday, adding the claim was being verified.

The minor was rescued after the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) of Mira-Bhayander Vasai-Virar Police, in a joint operation with NGOs Exodus Road India Foundation and Harmony Foundation, raided a flat in Naigaon in Vasai here on 26 July, the official said.

Six of those arrested and three of the five victims, including the 14-year-old girl, are Bangladeshi nationals, he said. Among those arrested are two women, aged 33 and 32, who allegedly facilitated the juvenile's entry into India from Bangladesh.

So far, ten persons have been arrested, Naigaon police station senior inspector Vijay Kadam said.

As per her statement given at a juvenile detention centre, she was first trafficked to Nadiad in Gujarat, where she suffered sexual abuse, another police official said.

Harmony Foundation’s President Abraham Mathai said the girl had failed in a subject in school, after which she ran away from home. She was then made to cross over into India illegally by a woman acquaintance, who pushed her into the flesh trade, Mathai claimed.

All the 200 men who allegedly sexually abused her must be traced and arrested, Mathai demanded.

Police officials also said the girl may have been given hormonal injections to induce premature puberty.

Human rights activist Madhu Shankar said there are instances of victims being kidnapped from various parts of the country when they were infants, made to live with those operating such rackets, and then pushed into the flesh trade as minors after being given such injections.

MBVV police commissioner Niket Kaushik said the force is taking all efforts to expose the entire racket and provide a safe environment to vulnerable teenagers.

Another official told PTI the allegations of the teen girl are being verified.

As per police, the victims of the sex racket busted on 26 July in Naigaon were allegedly trafficked to different locations like Navi Mumbai, Pune in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka and other places in the country.

The accused also gave sedatives to the minor girl, branded her with a hot spoon as part of efforts to force her into the flesh trade, the official said.

Police teams have been dispatched to various places in the country to apprehend others involved in the racket, he said.

 A case was registered on 27 July under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, Juvenile Justice Act, Foreigners Act and the Passport Act, the police added.