Prabhavati M. Hiremath, Principal District and Sessions Judge, Mysuru, said here on Tuesday, December 5, that 584 cases pertaining to child trafficking were registered in the district courts in the last one year.
She was speaking after inaugurating a workshop on the prevention of human trafficking organised by the district administration, Mysuru ZP, District Legal Services Authority and others.
The judge said the number of cases registered in 18 months was 664. These numbers are on the rise and cause for concern and of the 584 cases registered in a year, 424 pertained to trafficking girls and 164 pertained to trafficking of boys, she added.
Ms. Hiremath said the Child Welfare Committee had reported 175 child marriage cases while there were 109 cases of runaway children. Besides, there were 67 cases registered for rape, 41 cases were related to begging while there were 411 cases of children being reunited with their parents, she said.
The judge noted that human trafficking has emerged as a global issue and needs more serious attention from the officials in a bid to curb the scourge.
Though the laws banning human trafficking was enacted way back in 1956, the scourge was still prevalent in the society and it was imperative that it be stopped in the 21st century. She noted human trafficking was taking place due to various reasons and one need to address the cause to reduce it.
Ms. Hiremath attributed child trafficking to the prevalence of child labour and sexual exploitation and highlighted the available venues for legal redressal. The efforts being made to rehabilitate those rescued from trafficking, including counseling was also highlighted.
B.G. Dinesh, Member Secretary, DLSA, said trafficking prevailed for various illegal activities including organ theft, drug trafficking, and sexual exploitation, which took place under various guises. Though there were strong laws to prevent it, they will be ineffective until implemented, he added.
Mysuru ZP CEO K.M. Gayatri, Additional SP Nandini and resource persons for the workshop were among those present. The workshop was attended by ZP staff and officials and PDOs.
