Kollam police bust human trafficking racket, nab 151 Sri Lankan Tamils bound for Australia

[email protected] (The Hindu)
June 5, 2012

human_traffing


Kollam, June 5: The Kollam police claimed to have busted a human trafficking racket on Sunday night with the arrest of two groups of Sri Lankan Tamils, one from a fishing boat off the coast and the other from Mukkad area of Kavanad in the city. Those taken into custody comprise 107 men, 19 women and 25 children.


They told the police that Australia was their destination and they had paid Rs. 50,000 each for being smuggled into that country. But the police were clueless on the identity of the people behind the racket.


“At the same time there are indications that Tamil Tigers with local contacts could be involved.”


Kollam Police Commissioner Debesh Kumar Behera told The Hindu that it would be verified whether they had sneaked out of refugee camps in Tamil Nadu or arrived here directly from Sri Lanka.


It was also being examined whether those taken into custody were in possession of travel documents.


Preliminary investigations revealed that some of those taken into custody had arrived directly from Sri Lanka but the majority had sneaked out of refugee camps in the hope of reaching Australia.


The police arrested boat owner Alex and middleman Dasan, both of Kollam.


The boat was a crude vessel marked to be condemned. It displayed two names, “Saint Antony” and “Kottarathil.” From the boat 136 were taken into custody and the rest from Kavanad.


The arrested alleged that they were victims of human rights violations both in Sri Lanka and even at the refugee camps in India and that the torture had compelled them to take the risk of embarking on a dangerous voyage in a crude boat in the hope of reaching Australia. They were told that it would take 18 days.


The women and children were found to have been accommodated inside the store of the boat.


But the police did not find sufficient food or water.


Convincing version

Mr. Behera said the version of the Tamils seemed convincing as many of their relatives had reached Australia through the same mode.


It was a group of youths relaxing on the banks of the Ashtamudi Lake at Mukkad which saw some Tamils desperately rushing to a boat jetty and alerted the police.


The police soon arrived and on interrogating the group, learnt that a boatload of Sri Lankan Tamils being trafficked to Australia was not far from the Kollam coast.


The boat was scheduled to arrive at Mukkad and pick up this group.


When the operators on the boat learnt that the police were on to them, they skipped the Mukkad schedule and began sailing away. However, a posse from the Neendakara Coastal Police station, gave chase in the interceptor boat Darshana, and stopped the vessel from escaping.


Crew escape

When the police entered the boat there was no crew. It was suspected that they could have jumped into the sea and escaped. The team from the Coastal Police Station steered the fishing boat to the Shakthikulangara Harbour.


Boat owner and middleman, both of Kollam, arrested


The boat was a crude vessel marked to be condemned



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News Network
June 25,2020

Jun 25: A 16-year-old girl allegedly committed suicide at her house in east Delhi and her family members secretly buried her body, which was later exhumed for post-mortem, police said on Wednesday.

The girl, whose family hails from Jharkhand, allegedly hanged herself in a room in her house on Monday, they said.

No suicide note was recovered from the spot, police said.

Her body was exhumed on Tuesday as per the directions of the Sub Divisional Magistrate of the area. The process was carried out as her family members secretly buried her without informing the police.

The post-mortem will be conducted after Covid-19 tests, police said.

The incident took place on Monday. The reason behind her taking the extreme step is yet to be ascertained, they said.

Police said the girl lived with her mother and two siblings. The family hails from Jharkhand and are financially extremely weak. Her father died two years ago, they said.

After the father’s death, the girl's mother along with her siblings took her body to a burial ground and buried her, police said.

The police said the matter came to their notice after a neighbour alerted them about it. Following the information the body was exhumed, they said.

On questioning the girl's mother, she told police that she didn't know that one has to inform police in a suicide case, a senior police officer said.

Inquest proceedings have been initiated, police said.

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News Network
June 10,2020

Jun 10: In a suspected case of honor killing in Telangana, a 20-year old woman was allegedly smothered to death by her parents for being in love with a man from another caste, becoming pregnant and refusing to undergo an abortion, police said on Tuesday.

The parents killed their daughter using a pillow while she was asleep in the early hours of June 7 in their house in Kalukuntla in Jogulamba-Gadwal district and sought to project it as natural death, claiming she died of a heart attack.

However, following specific information and suspicion raised by the village secretary over the death of the woman, a college student, a probe was launched and the couple arrested on charges of murder under Indian Penal Code section 302 after post-mortem, police said.

The parents decided to kill the woman, the youngest of their three daughters, a day after she was found pregnant and refused to undergo an abortion, police said.

The woman had fallen in love with the man while pursuing her degree course in Kurnool district in neighboring Andhra Pradesh and informed her parents about it after she was found pregnant during an examination by a doctor. Her parents feared that their daughter may elope with her lover and brought pressure on her to go for abortion.

Though initially, she agreed, later she declined, following which they killed her and told everyone that their daughter died of heart attack, the police official said. When a police team went to their house and insisted on a post-mortem after noticing some marks on her body indicating a struggle, the parents tried to stop it, saying there was no need.

Later, police shifted the body to a hospital where a post-mortem revealed the woman was "throttled to death". Her parents during interrogation confessed to killing their daughter, the official said, adding they were arrested.

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News Network
July 17,2020

Ahmadabad, July 17: The Gujarat high court has ordered the Bharuch superintendent of police to investigate and produce a 14-year-old girl before the court, who has allegedly eloped with a man. Ironically, the man was convicted two years ago on Pocso charges for eloping with another minor girl in 2016.

The high court has asked the government to file an application for bail cancellation of the convict because he has indulged in a similar offence after having come out on bail.

The case involved one Dilip Padhiyar (24) from Uchchhad village in Jambusar taluka of Bharuch district.

He was punished with 10 years in jail in December 2018 by a special court for kidnapping a 16-year-old girl in 2016. He was prosecuted under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act and for rape and kidnapping charges. He got away with a 10-year-imprisonment because the girl was over 16 years and she had not alleged rape. However, Dilip Padhiyar was held guilty of statutory rape, abduction as well as under provisions of Pocso Act.

Dinesh Padhiyar got regular bail from the high court pending his appeal challenging his conviction in January 2019. In November 2019, he eloped with another minor girl.

Her father approached the high court complaining that though an FIR was registered with Vedach police station, the police have not made any effort to trace his minor girl. It was also contended in the habeas corpus petition that Padhiyar is a habitual offender.

Petitioner's advocate Imtiyaz Kureshi said that looking at the past of Dinesh Padhiyar, the high court asked the state government to initiate proceedings for cancellation of his bail.

The bench headed by Justice Sonia Gokani instructed HC's registry to treat the bail cancellation application as an urgent matter.

The high court has ordered Bharuch SP to produce the girl before the court by July 20, and in case she cannot be traced by then, he will have to submit an action taken report.

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