NEW DELHI: A leading Indian rights group has launched an initiative to return home four young Bangladeshi women who are languishing in a shelter in Kerala for distressed women for nearly a decade as victims of human trafficking, reports BSS. Arm of Joy, an Indian NGO which stood by the four young women, said they already mobilized the Bangladesh High Commission’s consular support for the victims while they took initiative rally for them the legal, administrative and political support in India for their quick repatriation.
Arm of Joy’s director Anoop Gangadharan told the news agency that despite the issuance of travel permit by Bangladesh High Commission, a legal barrier appeared to have obstructed their return as a concerned Indian office feared that once repatriated, the four women might not be available to testify in court during the trial of the suspected traffickers. “But we will put in all our efforts to reverse the decision of (India’s) Foreigners Regional Registration Officer (FRRO) barring the immediate return as Indian law does not allow victims of criminal activities to be kept in confinement,” Gangadharan said. He added: “We will take up the matter to the chief minister of Kerala, move to the High Court of Kerala (for their repatriation).” The NGO and Bangladesh mission officials said human traffickers smuggled the four tender aged girls out of Bangladesh alluring them of good livelihood. But, they said, Kerala police rescued them while being traded and launched a case arresting several suspected traffickers to be tried. Under the initiative of the NGO, Bangladesh High Commission officials in New Delhi visited the four women, three in their early 20s and one 18 years old girl, at the “Mahilamandiram” shelter centre in Kozhikode (Calicut) city in the Kerala state. “We earlier issued travel permit for the four Bangladeshi girls . . . all initiatives are underway within legal framework for their return home in quickest possible time,” minister for consular affairs Mosharaf Hossain of Bangladesh High Commission in Delhi told BSS. Hossain, who earlier this year visited Kerala to meet the four Bangladeshi women at the facility for the distressed women, binned the FRRO apprehensions saying the concerned Bangladeshi district magistrates ensured the concerned Indian officials the four women would appear in Indian court to testify through video conferencing once the trial started. “We previously issued the travel permit for them to return home but their date has expired so issued fresh travel permits to let the concerned Indian authorities understand our eagerness to get them back home,” Hossain said.