Nepalese girl forced into child labour rescued by NGOs, Haryana Police

New Delhi: Three NGOs with the assistance of Haryana Police have rescued a minor Nepalese national, who was trafficked to India from her native place and forced to undergo child labour.

According to officials, it took over four days of intensive search operations across the two countries before the 15-year-old Nepalese girl was rescued from a poultry farm in Jind, Haryana.

Working on a tip-off, the three organisations -- Association for Voluntary Action, also known as Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA); MDD of India, Haryana; and DEHAT Uttar Pradesh -- found that Sameeha (name changed) was reported missing from Nepalgunj, Nepal, from where she was reportedly trafficked to India.

"A rickshaw puller named Shiva and an elderly woman named Haseena had befriended Sameeha a few months ago in Nepal. When they sensed her desperation to find better opportunities, they convinced her to accompany them to India,” said an NGO official.

Haseena promised her that she would get her a job with a decent salary in a poultry farm in Haryana.

“She immediately agreed to accompany them,” said the official.

However, once they brought her to a farmhouse at Safidon in Jind district, she sensed danger.

“Panicked and alone, Sameeha somehow managed to call her mother secretly and told her that she was in danger. She even shared her location with her mother on WhatsApp. Sameeha’s mother, who runs a small grocery store on the Indo-Nepal border, had already filed a missing complaint with the Nepal police,” said the official.

Sameeha’s mother immediately approached an activist and narrated her daughter’s ordeal to him besides sharing her location.

“As soon as I was apprised of the situation, I knew that we had to work urgently and without involving too many people. So I connected with the Bachpan Bachao Andolan team in Delhi for advice. They connected with the MDD of India, Haryana, and we had a conference call where we passed on every bit of information we had,” said Devyani Chaturvedi from DEHAT.

The members of MDD of India then got in touch with the police for the rescue operation.

“We contacted Ashish Kumar, District Superintendent of Police, Safidon, and apprised him of the entire situation. He ordered a police team to reach the location and search for the child. We talked to the girl a couple of times during this period to confirm the location and ensure that she wasn’t shifted to any other place,” said Surinder Singh Maan, CEO, MDD of India.