New Delhi: In a string of lynchings tied to fake WhatsApp messages, at least 31 people have died across more than 10 states in India. Attached to all of these incidents is one common cause: the fear of child trafficking.
While the government is mulling over what to do and the local authorities are issuing warnings and hiring street performers to spread public awareness against fake news, there’s a fear lurking within the public. And that fear is protecting their children against child traffickers — one that is driving them to mob justice.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), there were 14,183 children who were victims of human trafficking in 2016 — a 27 per cent increase as compared to the previous year.
Additionally, a staggering 59 per cent of the total number of humans trafficked in 2016 were children below 18 years, NCRB data showed.
Rajasthan (5,626) accounted for the highest number of victims of child trafficking, followed by Madhya Pradesh (2,653) and West Bengal (2,216).
Traffickers lure thousands of poor, rural women and children to towns and cities promising good jobs and sell them into the modern day slavery.
According to the 2016 NCRB data, 45 per cent of the children ended up as forced labourers — as domestic workers or in small industries such as textile and firecracker workshops.
Another, 35 per cent of them were trafficked for sexual exploitation; 4,980 of which were sold to brothels and another 162 for child pornography.
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