40 minor girls rescued from orchestra units in Gopalganj

Patna: Police rescued more than 40 minor girls in a major raid on orchestra groups in Gopalganj district on Tuesday. The operation took place early morning, between 1am and 7am, at around 15 orchestra groups in the Kuchaykot area. During the raid, 22 people were arrested for child trafficking and exploitation.The raid was carried out jointly by Kuchaykot police, Association for Voluntary Action, Narayani Seva Sansthan and Bihar Police. It was supervised by senior officers, including additional director general of police (weaker section) Amit Jain and Gopalganj SP Vinay Tiwari.“The rescued girls are between 10 and 17 years old. They were trafficked from states like West Bengal, Assam, Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. After counselling, they have been shifted to safe places. Age verification and other legal processes are ongoing,” the SP said.Manish Sharma of the Association for Voluntary Action said these girls were lured with false promises and pushed into sexual exploitation through orchestra groups. “They were forced to dance at weddings and faced abuse even after the events. Many girls told counsellors that they were sold by fake boyfriends or tricked with offers of money, fame and chances to work in Bhojpuri films,” he said.Ravi Kant, national convener of Just Rights for Children, said this was part of an organised trafficking network. He praised the Bihar Police action but called for stronger coordination between states and strict action during the wedding season. “The groups were under watch for the past one month. The raid was timed when no weddings were happening so that all girls would be present at the locations,” he added.