UP's Minefield Of Sexploitation

Poverty-stricken girls aged 12-14 years are forced to work in illegal mines where ‘contractors’ sexually abuse them before handing over meagre earnings

- Mausami Singh

THIS is hell on Earth!

Poverty in Uttar Pradesh’s Chitrakoot is so entrenched that tribal girls, aged 12-14 years, are forced to work in illegal mines where contractors and middlemen will not pay their meagre wages before sexually exploiting them.

THE BIG IMPACT

• National Commission for Protection of Child Rights tells DM to register FIR and submit a report.

• UP State Commission for Protection of Child Rights will send a probe team to Chitrakoot.

• Nobel winner Kailash Satyarthi also urges UP government to conduct a high-level investigation.

Rinku (name changed), a resident of Dafai village in the district, some 700 km from Delhi, said, “They threaten us saying we will have to agree to their terms if we want our jobs. We agree. They also lure us with money. At times more than one man is involved in exploiting us. If we say no to their advances, they threaten to throw us down the hill. They don’t reveal their real names.”