NGO takes custody of trafficked Nepali girl; says CWC ill-treated her

An NGO in Nepal has slammed the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) in Bengaluru for failing to cooperate in repatriating a 16-year-old girl trafficked to the city from that country.

The girl had been kidnapped a year-and-a-half ago. The NGO, Shakti Samuha, also accused the CWC of showing little or no interest in repatriating the girl, and giving excuses. It produced all requisite documents from the government in Nepal to eventually claim the girl.

Dhriti Sapkota (name changed) was trafficked to Bengaluru by her own sister and was abandoned at the railway station. The Bagalur police spotted the girl and handed her to the state-run girls' hostel where she was undergoing rehabilitation.

The Talaash Association, which helps trafficked girls find their biological parents and homes to rehabilitate them, managed to locate Dhriti's family in Nepal's Baitadi district.

"The family member was the same sister who trafficked her to Bengaluru," said Seema Diwan, an activist from Talaash, which is authorised by the state Department of Women and Child Development. "We then set about finding an NGO in Nepal that would help the girl's education and ensure her emotional wellbeing."

Shakti Samuha, run by survivors of human trafficking, offered to accommodate Dhriti. Documents needed to repatriate and rehabilitate the girl were processed in coordination with Nepal's ministry of social welfare and the Nepal embassy.

A five-member team, including the director of Shakti Samuha, flew to Bengaluru to meet CWC members on May 29 to take custody of Dhriti. The appointment for the team to meet with CWC was communicated in advance to ensure the smooth repatriation process.

But in a needless display of rage during the counseling and repatriation process, the CWC members questioned both Talash and Shakti Samuha about the need for their hurry to take Dhriti, Seema alleged. "They didn't inform us where they have kept Dhriti. We learnt from our sources that she was housed in an unregistered NGO Swak Shetra," Seema said.

Shakti Samuha spokesperson Ashish Dulal said the CWC spirited Dhriti away to the old NGO, despite signing her custodial papers. "We cited the sections of the Juvenile Justice Act and explained the seriousness of the issue. The CWC members finally relented and sent Dhriti with us," Dulal added.

But by then both Talaash and Shakti Samuha missed counseling sessions for four other trafficked victims and cancelled air tickets to Hyderabad. "In the absence of Standard operating Procedures (SoPs), they could at least follow the Juvenile Justice Act," Dulal said.

Several calls to get the CWC's version went unanswered. On Thursday, Dhriti flew back to Nepal with members of the NGO.