With a rise of nearly 25 per cent from the year 2015, almost 20,000 women and children became victims of human trafficking in the year 2016 according to a government data tabled in the Parliamnet.
The Ministry of women and child development has revealed the appaling data, citing the exact number of women and children human trafficking victims at 19,223 against 15,448 in the previous year, reported the Times Of India.
The highest number of victims were recorded from the eastern state of West Bengal.
While the revelation might be disturbing, the police said it's because of increased awareness among the people and police training that such instances are getting recorded.
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"I think more victims are coming forward and reporting because of more information about trafficking," the official said to the newspaper. "Government and civil society groups are doing campaigns and people are also seeing more cases being reported in the media."
Cases of human trafficking with women and children being the most vulnerable victims highlights the desperate need to address the situation urgently.
Recently, the Bharatiya Janta Party's Mahila Morcha leader, Juhi Chowdhury had been booked in child trafficking case from West Bengal. She was arrested by the CID officials from Batasi area of Darjeeling district. The accused also named BJP leaders Rupa Ganguly and Vijayvargia for the same.
