Young girls are being forced into prostitution in numerous districts of Rajasthan like Sawai Madhopur, Bhilwara and Bharatpur, an NCW team has found after reports indicated that women were being auctioned in these areas on stamp papers.
The National Commission for Women (NCW), in a statement, on Friday said it had taken cognizance of the media reports that in the Rajasthan area of Bhilwara, conflicts over loan repayments were purportedly resolved by auctioning off young women on stamp papers.
A two-member fact-finding team had been constituted by the Commission to look into the issue. NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma also visited Sawai Madhopur to inquire into the situation.
"The Commission's conclusions and suggestions based on interactions with different families residing in the region, authorities of the police and the local administration is that there is enough evidence to conclude that young girls are being forced into prostitution in numerous districts of Rajasthan, including Sawai Madhopur, Bhilwara and Bharatpur, with highway sides being the most common locations," the team said.
"It was discovered that the family registrations in Bhilwara district of Kanjar Basti, Pander, which were supposed to be updated, were deficient in key details about the families residing there. Girls making up to be married off or residing with any distant relative were not on record," it said.
The visit to the communities provides further evidence that child marriages are still common in the state, the team found.
"The incident that was covered in the media is just one of the several such cases. Two similar cases were later recorded from Bundi district. The district administration and police are totally in denial and have failed to address the issue.
"Due to threats from the panchayat and local government, the people are under pressure to conceal the true extent of child prostitution and trafficking," the team said.
The NCW team also found that during the interaction with families, every family had six to nine minor girls living under one roof and these girls were unable to tell their relationship with others in the family.
"In order to establish the relationship, DNA tests on young girls and their respective families must be performed. It is crucial to rescue and provide proper rehabilitation to minor girls who have been coerced into forced prostitution.
"Rajasthan seems to be both a source and a destination for the trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation, prostitution, etc. The public should be made aware of these issues, and authorities should be sensitised," it said.
The Commission has now said that the Rajasthan government may be advised to keep the track record of every girl child born in the state.
Meanwhile, the team has advised the Centre to constitute an SIT to carry out the probe and enforcement agencies must be proactive in dealing with such issues.
Economic livelihood activities, awareness programmes pertaining to mental and physical health of girls must be focused to improve their condition, the women rights body suggested.
