On July 9, Shakti, a team made up of women personnel of the Railway Protection Force (RPF), rescued a 15-year-old girl from the Danapur Sanghamitra Special Express, between Krishnarajapuram and Bangarapet Junction near Bengaluru. The rescue took place at 10.30 am when the girl was found alone on the train but was allegedly being transported by traffickers to an unknown location.
According to Aneesh Hegde, the Chief Public Relations Officer of South Western Railway (SWR), the Shakti team was doing its regular rounds in the train to counsel women passengers who are travelling alone, about how to stay safe and also inquire about any potential harassment. There, the personnel came across the 15-year-old who was sitting alone and visibly scared. Aneesh further said that when the RPF personnel spoke to her, the girl asked for help. Later, the girl revealed her entire ordeal to the Shakti personnel.
The girl had run away from her home in Bihar’s East Champaran (Motihari) to escape her father who allegedly sexually abused and raped her. Added to that, her parents had apparently fixed her marriage, so she decided to leave home. She ended up in Bengaluru, where she said she was abducted by human traffickers, who drugged her and kept her confined in a windowless room. According to Aneesh Hegde, the mother of the 15-year-old knew about the sexual abuse by the father but had not intervened.
"The girl says she came to Bengaluru around a month ago and was caught by the traffickers. The girl in her statement has said that she was kept in captivity for about a month. We won't be able to specifically tell the date as she was understandably in a bad mental state and on top of that, she was drugged,” said a top official in RPF who did not want to be named.
The official added that when the traffickers were taking her to an unknown location via train, the RPF personnel came into contact with her. The official also revealed that the girl was scared and in a drug-induced state. All she could communicate to the RPF personnel was "didi mujhe bacchao" (please save me) and couldn't tell the personnel whether the traffickers were on the train.
“After rescuing, she was brought to Bengaluru City Railway Station’s special RPF outpost, which is a child-friendly place. After due formalities, the girl was handed over to Uma from Bosco Child Home for further safekeeping,” a statement from SWR said. The statement further said that necessary legal action under POCSO (the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act and other relevant Acts had been taken.