NEW DELHI (TrustLaw) - Two minor girls, who were being trafficked from other parts of India to be sold as brides, have been rescued in two separate incidents by police in New Delhi, the Times of India reported on Tuesday.
According to the report, a 16-year-old girl from the central region of Madhya Pradesh was sold by her uncle for 90,000 rupees ($1,800) to a truck driver whom she was forced to marry.
While in another incident, a 13-year-old girl from the eastern state of West Bengal, was trafficked to the capital and was in the process of being sold as a wife.
Social workers say girls from poor regions of India are increasingly being trafficked as brides to areas where there are a declining number of women, due to the illegal but widespread practice of female foeticide.
"Recent raids have thrown light on the trafficking of girl children to Haryana - with Delhi as the transit point," Rishikant, coordinator of a women's charity Shakti Vahini, is quoted as saying.
"Girls from Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Chandigarh are brought here with almost no scope of returning."
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
