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[NEW DELHI, 22 January 2009] - Concerned over the increasing number of child trafficking cases, the Delhi High Court this week ordered senior police officers to investigate the case and present the results by Friday. A division bench of Chief Justice AP Shah and Justice Sanjeev Khanna said, "This is a very serious matter and needs to be investigated by a senior level officer of the Delhi police". The court heard Public Interest Litigation filed by the NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan which blamed the placement agencies for the illegal trafficking of girls and advised compulsory registration of all such agencies. Senior lawyers H S Phoolka and Kavita Tiwari, advocating for the NGO, told the bench that the girls were forced into prostitution and the boys into illegal activities. Bachpan Bachao Andolan, in early January, rescued 35 girls and four boys from various placement agencies in the capital. Though child trafficking is growing rapidly in India, there is no reliable data available on the issue. According to figures provided by the National Crime Records Bureau, in 2004, as many as 2,265 cases of kidnapping and abduction of children qualified as forms of trafficking and were reported to the police. Of these, 1,593 cases were of kidnapping for marriage, 414 were for illicit sex, 92 for unlawful activity, 101 for prostitution and the rest for slavery, beggary and, allegedly, selling body parts. Most of these children (72 per cent) were between 16 and 18 years of age. Twenty-five per cent were children aged 11-15 years. Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu are the main states of origin from which many are trafficked to other states. Intra state/inter district trafficking is high in the states of Rajasthan, Assam, Meghalaya, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra while States like Delhi and Goa are 'destination' states. Trafficking of children from the North-Eastern states of India and the bordering countries in the north-east is a serious issue but has so far not drawn public attention... (ANI)
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