Sadly, 80 per cent of these girls end up in brothels. Police records show syndicated crimes against vulnerable girls is a serious problem as Bangalore emerges as a hub as well as destination for commercial sex trade. Girls from rural and poor backgrounds are trapped with promises of love, marriage or job.
“We do trace many girls in red light areas of big cities. But most of them don’t want to return fearing social boycott. The few who do are not accepted by their family. With nowhere to go, they are again trafficked,”noted a City crime branch senior officer.
Child marriage
“Gurjari” is an exotic form of trafficking, which takes the garb of child marriage.
Rampant in Dharwad district of north Karnataka, under this system, people from north India target poor families here. Sporting the badge of affluence, they seek their daughters in marriage to their sons. They even pay “token advance”. Once the so-called marriage is solemnised, the girl is trafficked.
