Goa seeks support from other states to combat trafficking

"Investigation of various human trafficking cases is lost mid-way and the traffickers in the source states and those who work in the transit go scot-free," police inspector Sunita Sawant from Goa Crime Branch said addressing a conference on human trafficking in Panaji yesterday.

"This also leads to the rescued women being trafficked more than once in the state by the same criminals," Sawant said.

Anyay Rahit Zindagi (ARZ), an NGO working in the field of combating human trafficking, in collaboration with Goa Women and Child Welfare Department, has organised the workshop attended by representatives from Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, West Bengal, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland, which are considered as source state for human trafficking in Goa.

Goa's secretary for Women and Child Development Department Keshav Chandra said that being a "dream destination", Goa has its own pitfalls.

NGOs in the source states and in Goa, along with the respective state governments, should work in tandem to disrupt the trafficking networks before they exploit victims, the official said.

Director of ARZ Arun Pandey said that a majority of women rescued from Goa were brought from Mumbai, who were exploited for prostitution. "Last three year's statistics indicates that 146 Indian girls, 27 from Nepal and four each from Russia and Bangladesh were rescued from Goa," he said.

The maximum number of girls rescued in Goa, are from Mumbai, followed by Manipur, Goa and Andhra Pradesh.

The NGO claimed that hotels or lodges, private flats, dance clubs, massage parlours and even business conferences act as a venue for prostitution.