Kathmandu, December 22
Two Chinese nationals who had been living in Nepal in the guise of tourists have been sent to judicial custody on the charge of trafficking Nepali girls aged between 19 and 22 in Laos and forcing them to indulge in illegal cyber businesses.
Kathmandu District Court issuing an order sent Chen Yang, 30, a permanent resident of Sichuan, China and Ruan Chaohong, 33, of Fujian China to prison until the final verdict. They had been living in Thamel for months to hunt and lure suitable girls to traffic them to foreign countries. They were arrested after an FIR filed by three girls along with their parents.
The girls were trafficked to Laos on the pretext of providing them attractive jobs.
The girls had in fact paid around Rs 400,000 to the Chinese national who swindled them by giving the false impression it was a genuine company that sent skilled manpower to foreign countries.
Among the arrested, Chen Yang used to lure women from rural districts like Sindhupalchowk and Arghakhanchi and Chaohong would act in the guise of a legal person operating oversees services from Kathmandu.
The girls were also made to sit for a job interview from countries like Laos where they would be trafficked. The fraudsters would cheat the girls by saying they could earn from USD 1,000 to USD 1,500 working as cleaners in supermarkets and hotels.
The girls had flown to Laos on September 2.
Upon reaching the place, they found out in a few days that they were forced to work with computers and mobile phones in call centres and get involved in illegal activities about which they had no idea. The traffickers had also bought them SIM cards and created fake IDs on social media. The trafficked girls, whose passports and identity cards were seized by the operators, were told to talk to Europeans and American people to lure them into investment in illegal gambling and other digital financial transactions. The girls were also asked to lure other foreigners to invest in bitcoins.
Initially, the girls refused to work for such businesses as they were not prepared.
As a result, they faced harsh mental and psychological torture. "The traffickers used to say they would shoot them if they tried to flee or didn't do their jobs properly.
The fraudsters had held their passports and other documents and forced them to work for hours without break," said Superintendent of Police Dan Bahadur Malla.
After finding it difficult and dangerous to work in such conditions, the girls were able to return to their country after three months with the help of other Nepali people there and parents back at home. The victims were not compensated for their stay in Laos.
A version of this article appears in the print on December 23, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
