NHRC notice to the Delhi Chief Secretary and Police Commissioner over reported five rescued Uzbek women missing from a shelter home

New Delhi, 5th November, 2022

The National Human Rights Commission, NHRC India, India has taken suo Motu cognizance of media reports that five of the seven Uzbek women, rescued from a sex trafficking racket by the Delhi police in August,2022 went missing from a shelter home in Dwarka Last week. Reportedly, the women were brought to India via Nepal and forced into sex work. In August, seven of them were rescued by the Delhi Police with the help of Uzbekistan Embassy and an NGO.

The Commission has observed that the State is under an obligation to protect the life of the foreign nationals in the country as it is for its own citizens. Accordingly, considering the gravity and the peculiar facts and circumstances of the incident, as reported in the media, it has issued a notice to the Chief Secretary of Govt. of NCT of Delhi calling for a detailed report in the matter alongwith the action taken report against the shelter home.

A report has also been sought from the Commissioner of Police, Delhi about the status of the investigation, recovery of the missing Uzbek women and progress in finding out the conspirators of sex racket in operation in Delhi and nearby places, arrest if any. It must be ensured that once the missing Uzbek women are rescued, their health and safety must be protected. The report of Commissioner of Police must also contain the outcome of Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Combating Trafficking of Persons in India of NHRC, and its implementation within Delhi NCR region to prevent such repeated offences of trafficking of citizens and non-citizens, girls and women. The response is expected within two weeks.

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