2 minor girls picked up in police raid at Budhwar Peth released by CWC

The fact-finding committee, comprising gender justice activists, had raised serious concerns about the raid. The committee, addressing a media conference, had also questioned the CWC’s alleged denial of custody of the girls to their families earlier.

Meena Seshu from NNSW, Manisha Gupte from MASUM, Pune, Vidya Kulkarni, an independent journalist, and Sayli Atre from ‘Let’s Play Trust’, a Pune child rights organisation, who are part of the committee, had sought an immediate, independent, and impartial inquiry into the police action to assess its legality and procedural integrity.

The committee had told mediapersons that they would prepare a report on its recommendations and submit it to the Maharashtra government soon. The Pune police had carried out the raid with a focus on identifying illegal migrants and curbing trafficking. They had detained 22 women, including 11 Bangladeshi nationals, in the raid which was carried out from midnight till dawn on February 10 and 11. The four minor girls residing with their families were also detained in the rain. The operation ran into controversy, with social activists crying foul.

Seshu had then told media persons that the police took away four girls – two sisters aged 16 and 11 (studying in Class 10 and Class 4 respectively); a 14-year-old girl studying in Class 9; and a 17-year-old girl who was living with the 14-year-old’s family after her mother had passed away.

The activists had alleged that despite the parents presenting valid identification and school documents, the girls were taken into custody, separated from their families, and placed in institutional care till now. The committee had also decided to examine the role of the CWC for allegedly denying custody of the children to their families on the grounds that the latter were not “fit persons,” citing factors such as single parenthood and raising concerns about living environment and the socio-economic context of the locality.