NE girls trafficked, forced to marry in Haryana: Official

New Delhi: A large number of girls from the northeast are being regularly trafficked and forced to enter into wedlock in Haryana, causing a serious concern for law enforcement agencies.

Despite the Union Home Ministry setting up a nodal cell to deal with the menace, girls from Nepal, Bangladesh and different parts of the country are often being trafficked to metropolitan cities and most of them end up in brothels.

"We have recovered many girls from Hissar in Haryana. All of them were forcibly married after being trafficked," Assam Superintendent of Police Violet Baruah said after a meeting of state anti-trafficking cell officers convened by the Home Ministry.

Baruah said the issue has been a major concern for Assam and such crimes have been taking place very often and happening due to the dismal sex ratio in Haryana.

Additional Secretary in the Home Ministry B Bhamathi said, "It is a major concern for us. With a view to tackling the menace of human trafficking, the MHA has undertaken a number of measures that included setting up of an anti-trafficking nodal cell to act as a focal point for communicating various decisions and follow up on action taken by the state governments," she said.