Traffickers have been found active in trafficking girls and children of rural areas in the district after the April 25 earthquake.

According to a recently published data, the traffickers have already trafficked three women from Nuwakot to India while five girls were rescued from Kathmandu. Many children have gone missing since the massive earthquake.

Out of 400 children, who were rescued from different places after the quake, 215 have gone missing. Police and Central Child Welfare Board suspect that the children might have been trafficked.

Of the missing children, most are from Nuwakot, said Purushottam Dotel, Nuwakot cluster team leader of Carnet Nepal, a social organization active in the fight against human trafficking.

Mostly, the traffickers have been found to have increased their activities in the remote areas in the district and villages with Tamang settlement, added Dotel. A total of 15 girls from Sinshupalchowk and Nuwakot were found sold in brothels of Uttar Pradesh and Mumbai in India after the devastating quake of April 25.

Three women from Shikharbesi VDC alone have gone missing after the quake. Of them, two are unmarried and one is married and they are from the Tamang community.

Five girls, who were brought from Nuwakot with the purpose of selling them off to India, were rescued from Thankot, Kathmandu, and they are under the protection, said Child Welfare Officer of the District Child Welfare Board, Nuwakot, Anita Thapa.

Dotel argued that it was necessary to ensure food, shelter and clothes to control criminal activities likely to increase in such type of disaster situation.

Published on: 20 June 2015 | Republica