The Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the Government Railway Police (GRP) have foiled a suspected human trafficking attempt, rescuing 12 minor girls who were allegedly trafficked from Rajasthan to Kerala with the support of a Perumbavoor-based charity firm.
Apart from booking two persons who accompanied the girls and parents of some of them to Kozhikode by train on Tuesday night, Jacob Varghese, a pastor from Ernakulam who headed the charitable trust named ‘Karuna’ ,was remanded in judicial custody on Thursday in connection with the case.
GRP sources said the charitable trust’s name came out when they quizzed the two agents, Lokesh Kumar and Shyam Lal who accompanied the girls. They were noticed by the RPF when the squad was alerted by a few passengers who were travelling by the train. The plan of the agents was to take the girls to Ernakulam, which was foiled by rescue squads at the Kozhikode railway station.
The Child Welfare Committee (CWC) has taken care of the rescued children’s accommodation in the city till the completion of the legal proceedings and their return to home States. It also confirmed that the charitable trust involved in the incident had not renewed its registration for operation as prescribed by the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015. CWC sources said a comprehensive investigation was on into the incident.
Police sources said they would check whether the Perumbavoor-based trust or its associates were part of any such previous attempts. In the preliminary investigation, it was found that the parents of children were not properly informed of the legal formalities in bringing the girls here.
According to GRP sources, the girls were brought to the State with a promise that they would be given better education, shelter and options for higher studies under various ‘trustworthy institutions’ at free of cost. All of them reportedly hailed from underprivileged rural families, they said.
