Pastor held for 'trafficking' of minor girls in Kerala

A pastor in Kerala was arrested by the police in connection with the alleged trafficking of minor girls from other states.

A case was registered and the arrest of Jacob Varghese, the director of Karunya Charitable Trust in Ernakulam district, was recorded.

The police detained 12 minor girls from a train at Kozhikode on Wednesday following a tip-off regarding suspected human trafficking. The adults accompanying them said that the girls were being taken to the charitable-run hostel for education. Subsequently, the charitable trust director was held.

The girls, suspected to be native of Rajasthan, were kept at a shelter home and efforts to trace their parents were on.

Sources said that the trust was not having proper permission to keep minor girls even as the trust authorities maintained that their application to run the hostel was pending. Trust was functioning over the last several years.