A woman’s organisation on Sunday presented before the media four purported victims of the Muzaffarpur telemarketing scandal involving the alleged confinement, extortion and sexual abuse of recruits, accused authorities of a hush-up attempt and demanded a judicial probe.

One of the women survivors — the whistleblower who was the first to escape — said she had been held captive and raped after being recruited by telemarketing company DBR Unique, and underwent three abortions. She alleged the police had taken away her mobile and that the prime accused was threatening her to get her to withdraw the case.

The All India Progressive Women’s Association (AIPWA), which organised the media interaction, said scores of young men and women recruited by the company had been cheated, tortured and sexually assaulted in captivity. It alleged the involvement of powerful people.

“Our inquiry has revealed that this is a state-wide scandal. The state government should initiate a judicial probe,” AIPWA national general secretary Meena Tiwari said.

“Main accused Manish Sinha (CEO of the company) is yet to be nabbed. He and his associates are going around threatening the victims and offering them money (to remain silent). We demand that he be arrested promptly.”

At least 200 young women and 50 young men were recruited by DBR Unique — ostensibly to help it sell medicines — through advertisements on social media
platforms that promised well-paid jobs.

However, firm officials allegedly extorted Rs 20,500 from each of them for their “training” and held them captive at various locations in Bihar, including Muzaffarpur and Hajipur.

The victims say they were paid no salary and were forced to make fraudulent calls to other youths to lure them into joining the firm.

Those who refused were allegedly thrashed and raped, with some of the women forced to undergo abortion.

“I was repeatedly raped and had to undergo abortion thrice,” the survivor and whistleblower told reporters on Sunday.

“Many girls are not coming out to complain out of fear of the people who run the firm, and also because of family and societal restrictions. Manish and his associates carried pistols and flaunted photos with politicians and senior government officials.”

She added: “Manish’s people reached my home in Siwan district and offered Rs 50 lakh to my family to withdraw the case. They also threatened us with dire consequences if we pursued the matter. My entire family is afraid.”

The survivor had managed to escape last October after about two years’ alleged captivity, but Muzaffarpur police refused to accept her complaint. They alleged her complaint was retaliation for a love affair gone wrong and that there were no other victims.

She moved court in February this year, which directed the police to register a case. An FIR was registered on June 2. Still, the police sat on the matter until a video went viral on social media, showing a few men severely thrashing a girl.

Forced to act, the police arrested two officials of the company.

“The police are trying to pass off the entire scandal as a love affair gone wrong and are connecting everything to just one victim,” Tiwari said.

“But the fact is that young men and women from nearby states like Uttar Pradesh were also lured and trapped by the people involved in the scandal.”

She claimed DBR Unique previously operated in Gujarat under another name, and that it now had an office in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. Its offices in Bihar remain open but no work seems to be happening.

The four victims the AIPWA presented on Sunday included three women and a man, all in their early 20s.

The whistleblower alleged the Muzaffarpur police had taken away her mobile and were not returning it despite several requests, because of which she “cannot contact the other victims”.

Another survivor, from Muzaffarpur, said she had been forced to work for the firm for around two years, during which she had to call over 20 girls to join it.

“They (firm operators) would beat me severely whenever I refused to call and lure other girls. They also tried to molest me,” she said.

“There are many girls like me who are not coming forward because of the lack of family support, marriage-related issues, threats, and the fear of acquiring a bad name.”

The young man among the victims is from Maharajganj in Uttar Pradesh. He alleged that Manish had come to his home and offered him money to withdraw the case of cheating and fraud he had lodged against the firm, threatening consequences if he didn’t.