{"id":8306,"date":"2020-10-28T19:34:05","date_gmt":"2020-10-28T19:34:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fighttrafficking.org\/?post_type=news_atc&#038;p=8306"},"modified":"2020-10-28T20:24:20","modified_gmt":"2020-10-28T20:24:20","slug":"at-heart-of-mumbai-trafficking-case-6-children-lockdown-and-10-min-calls","status":"publish","type":"news_atc","link":"https:\/\/www.fighttrafficking.org\/demo\/news_atc\/at-heart-of-mumbai-trafficking-case-6-children-lockdown-and-10-min-calls\/","title":{"rendered":"At heart of Mumbai trafficking case: 6 children, lockdown and 10-min calls"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"8306\" class=\"elementor elementor-8306\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-56644df elementor-section-stretched elementor-section-full_width elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"56644df\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;stretch_section&quot;:&quot;section-stretched&quot;,&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-9f285b7\" data-id=\"9f285b7\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-22e181d elementor-widget elementor-widget-theme-post-title elementor-page-title elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"22e181d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"theme-post-title.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">At heart of Mumbai trafficking case: 6 children, lockdown and 10-min calls<\/h1>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-7487a0a9 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"7487a0a9\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-2ca5c3a\" data-id=\"2ca5c3a\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-28c008c elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"28c008c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"810\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fighttrafficking.org\/demo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Untitled-design-4.png\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-8327\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-3aed5e2f\" data-id=\"3aed5e2f\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1c87d0b5 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"1c87d0b5\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><strong>Date: June 08, 2020<br \/><\/strong><strong>Source: The Indian Express<br \/><\/strong><strong><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Location: Mumbai, India<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The couple say that when their three-and-a-half-year-old \u201cson\u201d comes on screen for the allotted 10 minutes every day, he cries out: \u201cMumma come, Papa come.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But the story behind this emotional exchange is at the heart of a Mumbai Police case of alleged trafficking involving six boys that reached the Bombay High Court last year \u2014 and is now caught in the Covid lockdown.<\/p>\n<p>The boy, like the other five, all aged between seven months to five years, is in the care of Bal Anand, an adoption agency in Chembur. Police say he was allegedly sold by his Mumbai-based biological parents to a Delhi couple when he was a few days old in 2016. The couple raised the child till last May, when the Mumbai Crime Branch came knocking at their door.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ie-int-campign-ad\">\n<div id=\"gpt_ad_IE_ROS_INT_CAMP_DESK\" class=\"\" data-google-query-id=\"CJ-fg6uE2OwCFQ2djwod-JwKsA\">\n<div id=\"andbeyond3001\" data-google-query-id=\"CNO8u9WE2OwCFQVKjwodybgH8A\">\n<div id=\"google_ads_iframe_\/21796214895\/324113-300-250-1_0__container__\"><iframe id=\"google_ads_iframe_\/21796214895\/324113-300-250-1_0\" title=\"3rd party ad content\" name=\"google_ads_iframe_\/21796214895\/324113-300-250-1_0\" width=\"300\" height=\"250\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" data-google-container-id=\"p\" data-load-complete=\"true\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The \u201cadoptive father\u201d was arrested and the boy, along with the others who had allegedly been sold to different people, was sent to the agency. Months later, the man was released on bail, and approached the court along with the other \u201cparents\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>In November, they were allowed by Bombay High Court to meet the children at Bal Anand every day from noon to 4 pm.<\/p>\n<p>They also filed for legal adoption in a sessions court while a petition to quash the police FIR is pending before the High Court.<\/p>\n<p>But the lockdown has complicated the situation. Before the travel curbs came into place, the Delhi couple, along with their teenaged daughter, had moved to a hotel in Mumbai to be near the boy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI left my business behind since our son means the world to us. We went to meet him every single day. But as soon as the lockdown was announced, on March 23, we took a flight for Delhi. I petitioned the lower court to grant us custody of the child in these extreme circumstances. We were allowed to meet him through video conferencing for 10 minutes daily,\u201d the parent told\u00a0<a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/\">The Indian Express<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe agency makes the video call in the evening. He doesn\u2019t understand why we are not visiting him or why he was taken away. It is traumatic. But if we don\u2019t make the call, it will appear that we don\u2019t care for the child and that will worsen our case to adopt him legally,\u201d the parent said.<\/p>\n<p>The Mumbai Crime Branch says it busted the trafficking racket in July last year, and is likely to file a chargesheet soon. Officers say it is a case of exploitation since all the children are male and from poor families in Mumbai.<\/p>\n<p>According to police, at least nine intermediaries were involved in the racket, including nurses from hospitals in poor areas, surrogate mothers and employees at IVF centres. They have also arrested the alleged \u201cmastermind\u201d who has been identified as Pawan Sharma, a Delhi resident. Sharma, the six couples who \u201cbought\u201d the children, and the intermediaries are out on bail.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen we took the children to the adoption centre according to court orders in July, we told them that they are being kept in the hostel for their studies,\u201d Police Inspector Aparna Joshi, the investigating officer, said. \u201cWe had to be sensitive with the kids and think of their future,\u201d DCP Akbar Pathan, who is overseeing the case, said.<\/p>\n<p>According to an officer, in three of the six cases, the families did not have any children while the alleged reason for the rest was \u201cthe pressure to have a male child\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, the officer said, a 32-year-old taxi driver from Bhiwandi, who is among the accused, told police that his wife was under pressure from his extended family to deliver a boy after two girls.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen his wife delivered a girl again, one of the accused met him and offered to arrange a male child for Rs 3.84 lakh. The taxi driver sold his house and other belongings, and told his family that his wife had delivered twins. When police arrested the man and took the child away, the family had already arranged for a naming ceremony for the twins,\u201d the officer said.<\/p>\n<p>In Mumbai\u2019s Shivaji Nagar, a woman, who had \u201cgiven up\u201d her son to the intermediaries, said: \u201cMy husband died in 2012, when I was pregnant with our fifth child. I work for a catering service and at a wedding, a woman asked if I would give up the child that was yet to be born. I was struggling to raise my children, and I wanted the baby to have a better life,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>The woman said she handed over the infant to one of the accused, days after delivery. Five years later, she met her son again \u2014 when the police took her during investigation to a hospital for a DNA test. \u201cBut I did not talk to him. While giving him away, I had decided that I\u2019d never look back,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Read the Indian Express (Source) article <\/span><a style=\"font-size: 16px; background-color: #ffffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/cities\/mumbai\/at-heart-of-mumbai-trafficking-case-6-children-lockdown-and-10-min-calls-6447852\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">.<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-62c2ed3 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"62c2ed3\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-104149b\" data-id=\"104149b\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-062b02e elementor-widget elementor-widget-spacer\" data-id=\"062b02e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"spacer.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer-inner\"><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t  <div class=\"related-post grid\">\r\n        <div class=\"headline\">Related Posts<\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"post-list \">\r\n\r\n            <div class=\"item\">\r\n          \r\n  <a class=\"title post_title\"  title=\"Kerala Budget Focuses on Women Safety: Proposes Public Register of Sex Offenders\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fighttrafficking.org\/demo\/news_atc\/kerala-budget-focuses-on-women-safety-proposes-public-register-of-sex-offenders\/\">\r\n        Kerala Budget Focuses on Women Safety: Proposes Public Register of Sex Offenders  <\/a>\r\n\r\n  <div class=\"thumb post_thumb\">\r\n    <a  title=\"Kerala Budget Focuses on Women Safety: Proposes Public Register of Sex Offenders\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fighttrafficking.org\/demo\/news_atc\/kerala-budget-focuses-on-women-safety-proposes-public-register-of-sex-offenders\/\">\r\n\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"286\" height=\"186\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fighttrafficking.org\/demo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Kerala-Public-Register-of-Sexual-Offenders.png\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\r\n\r\n    <\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <p class=\"excerpt post_excerpt\">\r\n    \u201cIt\u2019s Saturday evening at the National Human Trafficking Hotline, and we\u2019ve had non-stop calls since mid-afternoon. 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I know there are <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fighttrafficking.org\/demo\/news_atc\/human-trafficking-survivor-writes-a-letter-to-the-pm\/\"> Read more<\/a>  <\/p>\r\n        <\/div>\r\n      \r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <script>\r\n      <\/script>\r\n  <style>\r\n    .related-post {}\r\n\r\n    .related-post .post-list {\r\n      text-align: left;\r\n          }\r\n\r\n    .related-post .post-list .item {\r\n      margin: 5px;\r\n      padding: 0px;\r\n          }\r\n\r\n    .related-post .headline {\r\n      font-size: 18px !important;\r\n      color: #999999 !important;\r\n          }\r\n\r\n    .related-post .post-list .item .post_title {\r\n      font-size: 16px;\r\n      color: #3f3f3f;\r\n      margin: 10px 0px;\r\n      padding: 0px;\r\n      display: block;\r\n      text-decoration: none;\r\n          }\r\n\r\n    .related-post .post-list .item .post_thumb {\r\n      max-height: 220px;\r\n      margin: 10px 0px;\r\n      padding: 0px;\r\n      display: block;\r\n     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elementor-element-56a33cc elementor-section-stretched elementor-section-full_width elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"56a33cc\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;stretch_section&quot;:&quot;section-stretched&quot;,&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-d3d95fd\" data-id=\"d3d95fd\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a6fdac4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-theme-post-title elementor-page-title elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"a6fdac4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"theme-post-title.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Human Trafficking Survivor Writes a Letter to the PM<\/h1>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-70eaab94 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"70eaab94\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-23e3efc\" data-id=\"23e3efc\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7b966e7 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"7b966e7\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"361\" height=\"240\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fighttrafficking.org\/demo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/LetterPM.png\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-5272\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-34f8c47e\" data-id=\"34f8c47e\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3d0d2ec9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"3d0d2ec9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Date: <\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section><\/div>&hellip;","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":8327,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[61,60,55,51,59,54,57,49],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fighttrafficking.org\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_atc\/8306"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fighttrafficking.org\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_atc"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fighttrafficking.org\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news_atc"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fighttrafficking.org\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.fighttrafficking.org\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_atc\/8306\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8329,"href":"https:\/\/www.fighttrafficking.org\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_atc\/8306\/revisions\/8329"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fighttrafficking.org\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fighttrafficking.org\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fighttrafficking.org\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fighttrafficking.org\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}