DCW rescues Nepali women in Central Delhi
Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) Chief Swati Maliwal with the girls who were rescued from Hotel Hriday Inn in Delhi's Paharganj area on Tuesday night; in New Delhi on Aug 1, 2018. The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) on Wednesday said that it rescued 39 Nepali women, who had become victims of human trafficking.IANS

The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) seems to have been making quite some progress in the apparent human trafficking racket that uses the national capital as a transit point for the women. 73 women from Nepal have been rescued in three different operations in about a week's time.

The DCW has stated that they were able to locate these women based on a tip-off and are firm in their claim that the women were part of a bigger human trafficking racket which extends all the way to the Middle East. The Delhi police, however, remain unconvinced.

Approximately 40 women from Nepal were recently found in a hotel in Central Delhi's Paharganj area. It has been stated that the women were to be trafficked to the Gulf countries and were brought to the city under the pretext of sending them to Gulf countries for jobs.

DCW chief Swati Maliwal tweeted:

DCW received tip-off &rescued 39 Nepali girls from Hotel Hriday Inn, Paharganj. Raid lasted the entire night & assistance was provided by Delhi Police. Entire hotel had only trafficked Nepali girls who were being sent 2 Gulf countries. Huge trafficking racket busted.

The first such operation was reported on July 25, last week, when 16 women were found in at a house in Munirka. The cops have refused to file an FIR since none of the women have said anything about being brought to the national capital against their will, the Indian Express reported. Since the women have said they came to Delhi in search of jobs, the cops are unsure about the sections under which an FIR can be filed.

The Indian Express quoted a senior police official as saying:

We found 53 women across 18 rooms... 14 refused to accompany us. The rest were taken to the police station, and then a government hospital for medical examination... 21 of them refused to be examined.

Nepali passports recovered by the Delhi cops.
Passports of the 19 women rescued in the second bust in Delhi's Maidangarhi which was conducted in coordination with Varanasi police on July 31.DCW Twitter

While there may not be a reason to file a complaint solely based on what the rescued women say, one cannot deny the fact that dozens of women from a different country were found in a hotel that had no other guests does raise a few questions.

If it really were a part of a human trafficking racket, as claimed by the DCW, were at least some of these women aware of it? Or were they simply lied to? It seems to be the latter, according to Maliwal.

"The women told us about agents who took money with the promise of a job but then disappeared," the DCW chief said.

Regardless of what the women have to say, if a case is filed in the matter, it would be investigated and possibly uncover a bigger racket of human trafficking that seems to be using Delhi as a transit point. But the police's refusal to file an FIR has raised eyebrows and attracted severe criticism from the common man. Many even took to Twitter to express their disapproval in this regard.