Bengal: 22 teens rescued from life in Asansol brothel

KOLKATA/ASANSOL: Twenty-two girls aged between 13 and 17 — seven of them from Bihar’s Samastipur — were rescued by the state child rights commission in association with two NGOs and state cops from a brothel at Neamatpur in Asansol on Wednesday night. Twenty-five people, including pimps, brothel owners and clients, were arrested.
“The seven girls from Bihar were forced into prostitution.They mostly dance at local parties in Bihar and, during the lean period, they had to work at the brothel. The rest from Bengal were mostly sold off after being lured by job offers,” said Ananya Chakraborti, the chairperson of West Bengal commission for protection of child rights (WBCPCR).
The girls were shifted to a West Burdwan home and the Bihar residents will be later shifted to the state, officials said.
Officials of NGOs Shakti Vahini and Bachhpan Bachao Andolan said the rescue operation holds special significance as it presents a case of reverse trafficking. “So far, we have seen how girls from Bengal were being pushed into bondage in the name of performing at weddings and dance bars in Bihar, and most of them were later pushed into sex rackets. But now, with most survivors found to be from Bihar, it shows that trafficking will not follow a set pattern where a large section of the population is in deep financial stress,” said Rishikant, who works closely with survivors.