DHANGADHI, SEPTEMBER 22

Cases related to human trafficking have increased amid the coronavirus pandemic in Sudurpaschim province.

The number of girls and women being trafficked to India has increased exponentially during the pandemic, informed Maiti Nepal, Dhangadhi.

According to the office, trafficking incidents are increasing due to financial crunch, unemployment during the pandemic which has resulted in unscrupulous people having it easy to sway the people that are desperately looking for work.

So far, 28 persons have been rescued in the current fiscal year from the Trinagar custom point alone. They were being taken to India in the ruse of marriage and work, informed Shivcharan Chaudary, chief of Maiti Nepal Dhangadi.

As many as 109 were stopped in the Trinagar custom point in the last fiscal year, added Chaudhary. The trafficked women and girls were rescued at the customs point while being taken across the border.

Similarly, four women were also rescued from India, added Maiti Nepal.

In contrast to the fiscal year 2076/78, six persons were rescued from Trinagar Custom point and one from India. Five were rescued from various locations in Nepal.

In FY 2075/76, 157 were rescued from the Trinagar custom point while two were rescued from India and six were rescued from various hotels within Nepal.

In recent years, the destinations for the trafficked girls and women have also changed from Maharashtra (Mumbai) and Delhi to Gujarat, Punjab, Karnataka (Bengaluru) and Rajasthan, claimed Chaudhary while adding, "though Mumbai and Delhi still remain 'prime destinations' for trafficking."