Bhilwara: Following reports of girls being sold at auction on stamp papers in the region, Sangeeta Beniwal, the chairman of the Rajasthan State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights, called a meeting on Saturday at the Collectorate in Bhilwara.

At the meeting were the District Collector, the Superintendent of Police, and other representatives. “The DSP and Collector informed me that this case dates from 2019. Police then handed a court challan listing 25 persons. Four of the six girls have received rehabilitation, while the other two, who are from other states, are in girls’ homes. I’ll get in touch with them shortly to get all the details “said Sangeeta Beniwal, director of RSCPCR.

Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan | I felt there is a big racket here, young girls being pushed into flesh trade. Admin has to see if these girls were brought here, girls are also being sent out. Every house here has 5-6 young girls. I feel they are not their own: NCW chief Rekha Sharma pic.twitter.com/chgTHAA4Pt

— ANI MP/CG/Rajasthan (@ANI_MP_CG_RJ) October 29, 2022

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Ashok Gehlot, the chief minister of Rajasthan, had earlier claimed that the Congress party had revealed incidences of this nature that had occurred under the BJP’s previous rule of the state.

“When the BJP was in office in 2005, the incident took place. 2019 saw us arrive and expose it, resulting in the arrest of 21 suspects, three fatalities, and one fugitive. The other kids went home, and two of them passed away. The story became national news, “Speaking here at a press conference, Gehlot stated.

The National Commission for Women (NCW), the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), and the Rajasthan State Commission for Women (RSCW) have all requested reports on the allegations.

Swati Maliwal, the executive director of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), also wrote to Gehlot requesting that the perpetrators of the auctioning of girls on stamp sheets to settle disagreements over loan repayments in the Rajasthani district of Bhilwara be held accountable.

The report stated that whenever there is a dispute between two parties, particularly involving financial transactions and loans, people approach caste-based panchayats to settle the matter, the DCW chief wrote. “It is reported in the newspaper that girls as young as 8 years old are being openly auctioned on a stamp paper in over half a dozen districts of the state.

Maliwal’s letter read, “These panchayats settle financial disputes and recover the money by auctioning young girls belonging to the lender families. The girls are then sent to Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Mumbai, Delhi and even abroad and subjected to physical abuse, torture and sexual assault. If the families refuse to sell their girls, their mothers are subjected to rape on the diktats of the local caste panchayats!.”