Dodgy traffickers get away as law enforcers have blinkers on

It has been four years since the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act of 2013 was passed by both houses of the Parliament in the aftermath of the December 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape case. The law paved way for path-breaking changes in the Indian Penal Code.

The major improvements included the change in the definition of rape; the incorporation of new offences such as acid attacks, sexual harassment, voyeurism, stalking into the IPC; and the inclusion of Sections 370 and 370 (A) dealing with the issue of trafficking. This was a marked change from the earlier trafficking law, the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act of 1956.

However, four years after the landmark legislation, various law enforcement agencies still seem to be looking at trafficking solely from the prism of prostitution.

Those working in the field of human trafficking told Millennium Post that an overwhelming majority of police across of the country have still not updated themselves to the new law, which incorporates a wider definition of trafficking on the lines of the United Nations' definition of trafficking.

The new definition also involves child labour, forced marriage, organ trade, trafficking through adoption etc.

"Till date, various Indian law enforcement agencies are unable to understand the new definition of trafficking. There are over 700 districts and over 16,000 police stations in the country and an overwhelming majority of them, including senior police officials, still see the issue through the prism of commercial sex work," said Amod Kanth, general secretary, Prayas Juvenile Aid Centre (JAC) society.

However, Delhi Police have refuted the contention and claimed that they have busted several high profile trafficking modules and also reunited 5,027 children in 2016.

"Yes, the lower level constabulary may not know about the fine points of the new law. But the senior level officers make sure that all aspects of the new law are incorporated. Further, thanks to our efforts, there has been a decrease in the missing children cases as last year, 6,921 children were reported missing compared to the previous year's number 7,928," a Delhi Police spokesperson said.

Since the police have deputed its force to trace out missing children and tackle sex trafficking, an overwhelming majority of trafficking cases incorporating the new additions in the law are not looked into. Traffickers have been able to use the lacunae in the police's approach towards human trafficking to go scot free as, according to Prayas, several hundred cases are stuck in the lower courts in the evidence stage.

Millennium Post had reported on Friday as how the new trafficking destination country has changed and now the State of Rajasthan has become the new hub due to its mushrooming embroidery units and bangle making factories.

Akhil, manager with Geneva Global, an organisation working in the field of human trafficking, has been working in Rajasthan for the past few months. According to his data, around 288 cases have been stuck in the evidence stage in the lower courts in the state.

Further according to data provided by Deepshika Singh, Senior manager at the Institute of Juvenile Justice, around 940 cases have been registered under the section 370, however the rest of the cases the ITPA is invoked.

Deepshika has identified over 20 trafficking hotspots starting from the State of Bihar to Delhi.

Several training sessions have also been conducted with the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and other enforcement agencies.

The traffickers looking at this trend have adapted and now use the border areas around Delhi to bypass the Capital and reach Rajasthan.

"The traffickers now use the border areas like Anand Vihar, Faridabad district, Gurugram to bypass the security at the Capital," she said.