Delhi saw 73.5% jump in human trafficking cases last year, NCRB data reveals

In 2021, over 93 cases of human trafficking were registered as compared to 53 cases in 2020. According to senior officials, the uptick in cases is because of the Covid ‘unlock'. As more businesses started to reopen, agents and gangs started scouting for people and forced them into bonded labour or sexually exploited them. Many of the victims were pushed into domestic work and were rescued from residential areas.

Last month, the Delhi Police Crime Branch busted an international human trafficking racket by rescuing 10 Uzbekistan women who were brought to India through the Nepal border on bikes and cars.

The accused are Turkmenistan nationals Jumayeva Aziza (37) and Meredob Ahmed (48) and Uzbekistan national Ali Sher Tilladaev (48). Their associates in India – Mohammed Arup (34), and Chande Sahni (30) – have also been arrested. They were all arrested from Malviya Nagar in South Delhi.

Ali Sher would lure the women on the pretext of giving them high-salary jobs in India and would bring them to Delhi where he sold them to Jumayeva and Meredob. The women, who were pushed into sex work, have also been booked under the Foreigners' Act for entering and staying in the country illegally.

In 2021, 81.3% of the over 93 cases of human trafficking were charge-sheeted. Talking about the cases, a police officer said, “The complaints come a bit late in such cases. Usually, it is an NGO or the Department of Labour that conducts drives and alerts us about exploitation. We then conduct checks and talk to the victims, some of whom have been stuck in Delhi for years. Most of the victims are from Jharkhand, Assam, Bihar, Rajasthan, West Bengal etc.”

Most of the 509 victims are males below the age of 18, police said, adding that they are called to Delhi on the pretext of giving them jobs. “There are agents who even pay the victim money for travel, food and accommodation to lure them into the work. Later, these agents leave them at homes or businesses where the person is forced to work for free and is exploited,” added the officer.

According to the data, 174 persons have been arrested for human trafficking in 2021 and 13 were charge-sheeted but none of them has been convicted, acquitted or discharged by the courts. Compared to other Union Territories, Delhi has the highest cases of human trafficking.