Minor raped,cops suspect human trafficking

The police have booked one Aijaz Ahmad under Section 376 of IPC for allegedly molesting the girl on February 26,when she had gone to his house near the Ridge to collect a consignment of clothes. Ahmad hails from Kashmir and earns his living by selling dress materials.

In her complaint to the police,the victim has alleged that her relative — who brought her to Shimla from Kalpa (Kinnaur district) Balika Ashram sometime ago — had sent her to collect the dress materials from Ahmad,where she was raped. When she returned and narrated the incident,Seema laughed it off.

Shimla district SP Sonal Agnihotri said,“The accused has been arrested and the victim is being sent a child welfare home. Medical tests have conformed that she was molested. There is a conflict as to what is her real age,because as per medical reports,she is between 13 to 16 years of age. But according to records at Kalpa Ashram,she is 17.”

Following her mother’s death,the girl was abandoned by her father. She started her life afresh at the ashram.

Agnihotri added,“We are exploring many angles. We are trying to find out whether her guardian tried to use her for human trafficking and if there any more victims in Shimla. We are also trying to find out whether she was raped in Kalpa Ashram at Kinnaur. Kinnaur SP is probing the matter at Kalpa.”

Project coordinator of Childline,Shimla,Anita Sharma,said: “Seema had brought the victim to Shimla during November-December,saying that she was her relative. The victim has been staying at Kalpa Ashram ever since she was a toddler and not seen her relatives at all,so she believed Seema. The victim has also complained of molestation at Kalpa child home and was undergoing treatment at Shimla’s IGMC Hospital’s psychiatry department.”