New Delhi: The NHRC has issued notices to the Delhi government and the city’s police chief after five of the seven Uzbek women who were allegedly trafficked and sexually exploited in India went missing from a private shelter home here.
The National Human Rights Commission in a statement Saturday observed that “the State is under an obligation to protect the life of foreign nationals in the country as it is for its own citizens”.
The NHRC said it has taken “suo motu cognisance of media reports that five of the seven Uzbek women, rescued from a sex trafficking racket by the Delhi Police in August 2022, went missing from a shelter home in Dwarka, last week”.
Reportedly, the women were brought to India via Nepal and forced into sex work. In August, seven of them were rescued by the Delhi Police with the help of Uzbekistan Embassy and an NGO, it said.
Accordingly, considering the gravity and the peculiar facts and circumstances of the incident, as reported in the media, it has issued a notice to the Delhi chief secretary, seeking a detailed report, along with the action taken report against the shelter home, the statement said.
“A report has also been sought from the Delhi Police Commissioner about the status of the investigation, recovery of the missing Uzbek women and progress in finding out the conspirators of sex racket in operation in Delhi and nearby places, arrest if any,” the rights panel said.
“It must be ensured that once the missing Uzbek women are rescued, their health and safety must be protected,” the statement said.
The report of police commissioner must also contain the outcome of the NHRC’s standard operating procedure (SOP) for combating trafficking of persons in India, and its implementation within Delhi-NCR to prevent such repeated offences of trafficking of citizens and non-citizens, girls and women. The response is expected within two weeks, it added.
PTI
