Sold Into Prostitution, West Bengal Girl Scores 70% in Exam After Being Rescued

West Bengal Girl Scores 70%: A 14-year-old girl recently passed Madhyamik with 70% marks. One would wonder what is so extraordinary about her worth reading. Well, she achieved this feat despite a traumatic past. The meritorious girl was trafficked and forced into prostitution. Abducted on May 23, 2019, she was sold to four different brothels in Rajasthan, Delhi, UP and Tripura.

Fortunately, cops and some members of an NGO rescued her and she managed to join back school two and a half months later. As per sources, Three of the traffickers have also been caught. She was in class IX then. However, her suffering hadn't ended. She was bullied in school and many labelled her as a "baje meye" (bad girl). Unable to tolerate the humiliation, she dropped out of the half-yearly exam. At that time, an NGO and police intervened and ensured that she could study peacefully in the institution.

The new challenge that the girl faces now is that her percentage is not high enough to get admission in a school where she can study science. Therefore, she has decided to study Arts. She also aspires to be a school teacher, be financially independent and support her parents.

In March this year, Rajouri Police a rescued a 12-year-old girl who was abducted and sold for prostitution in January 2021. The prostitution racket was operating over WhatsApp. Read more about the case.

In September last year, Smriti Irani, Union Women and Child Development Minister, said that the government is working on the “most stringent laws” against trafficking of women and children.

“We have sanctioned anti-trafficking units across each district so that women and children in our country are better protected. In the past six years, we have set up in every district of the country one-stop crisis centres. These can be used by women and children, especially the civil society leaders. Those leaders who want to become a link between support mechanisms and the children at large,” she said at the summit. Read more about it here.