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Journalism of Courage
Thanks to a vigilant passenger, 26 minor girls were rescued from a suspected human-trafficking gang by railway officials and the police. The passenger travelling by Avadh Express sent out an SOS tweet asking railways to help and take necessary measures after he spotted the girls crying in a compartment.
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On July 5, Twitter user, Adarsh Shrivastava (@AdarshS74227065 ) onboard on S5 of the Muzaffarpur-Bandra Avadh Express, grew concerned looking at a group of uncomfortable girls. He quickly posted a tweet with details of the train’s location and next two stops tagging Prime Mnister Narendra Modi, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath among others.
The Railways responded quickly alerting GRP and RPF. At Kapatanagaj station, RPF staff in normal clothes boarded the train and escorted the minors till Gorakhpur, where the girls were deboarded and taken to Gorakhpur police station. The men responsible were subsequently arrested.
When the children couldn’t provide details about their names and addresses, Childline — — a helpline number for children in distress by the Ministry of Women and Child Development — along with the anti-trafficking unit were alerted.
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And after a few rounds of questioning, the families of the minors were finally informed about their whereabouts.
The good Samaritan created a new Twitter account to alert the police and to help the children. His brave gesture has created a huge buzz on the micro-blogging site with Netizens praising and thanking him.
https://twitter.com/AjitsinhJagirda/status/1015289660422139904
https://twitter.com/nirwamehta/status/1015322547280384002
“26 girls were found with two men, aged 22 and 55 years. All of them are from West Champaran in Bihar. The girls were being taken from Narkatikyaganj to Idgah. When questioned the girls were unable to answer anything convincingly, so they have been handed over to the child welfare committee. The girls are believed to be between the ages of 10 and 14 years,” a statement from RPF said, according to PTI.
