Tara (name changed), 17, was residing with her grandmother in Kushtia district in Bangladesh before her life took a turn for the worse. Tara’s mother was a commercial sex worker who had been in Bengaluru for 15 years. After her grandmother’s death, Tara moved in with her maternal aunt in Bangladesh.
The maternal aunt secured Tara’s engagement with a local boy, but the marriage was called off. Then, Tara’s mother, with the help of her sister (the girl’s maternal aunt) and a trafficking agent Laltu, smuggled her daughter over the border into India, and then into Bengaluru. Her mother and Laltu forced Tara into the sex trade and were sending her to multiple pimps.
One of the many pimps was Sampa Begum alias Kajol, who was forcing Tara into sex trade at a brothel in Byadarahalli. She was among the 13 minor girls rescued by the Central Crime Branch (CCB), who, in association with two city-based NGOs, cracked down on brothels and rescued minor girls. The police also arrested 26 persons, who were part of the racket, and booked them under POCSO and human trafficking acts.
“It was a complex operation. The two NGOs kept a watch on these illegal activities for over two months to gather evidence,” a senior police officer told The Hindu . The operation was initiated after one of the NGOs received a tip off about a minor girl being forced into commercial sex work.
On May 16, one of the NGO staff, with the help of the CCB team, conducted surveillance at one of the brothels. Ho.