The Juvenile Justice Board in Kolkata has ordered that a woman who was 17 when charged with the alleged trafficking of another child be tried as an adult in an Alipore court.
The accused is 23 now. In 2018, she was accused of trafficking a 15-year-old girl by luring her with the job of a babysitter on the southern fringes of Kolkata.
The accused “is to be tried as an adult and let the trial of the instant case be transferred to the Ld. Children’s Court (first additional district and session court, Alipore), South 24-Parganas. The CCL (child in conflict with law) is hereby directed to appear before the Ld. Children’s Court, South 24-Parganas at Alipore on 13/02/24,” said the order by Jayanta Bhattacharya, principal magistrate, Juvenile Justice Board, Kolkata.
The hearing was conducted under Section 15 of the Juvenile Justice Act, which states that any child between the ages of 16 and 18 can be transferred to a criminal court in case of the commission of a serious offence.
The chargesheet says the survivor was first taken to Bihar where she was forced to join a dance troupe. Later, she was brought back to the southern fringes of Kolkata and allegedly forced into prostitution.
The accused was allegedly instrumental in all of this. The owner of the house where the survivor would be sexually exploited, on the southern fringes of Kolkata, is a co-accused and facing trial.
The victim was rescued from the house during a raid by the anti-human trafficking unit of Kolkata police, which took up the case.
The accused was kept in an observational home till she was granted bail by the Juvenile Justice Board.
Two main factors led to the order — the “heinous” nature of the alleged offence and the fact that the accused was “mature enough” to understand its nature and consequences.
Section 2(33) of the Indian Penal Code defines “heinous offences” as “those for which the minimum punishment... is imprisonment for seven years or more”.
The accused who was minor at the time of the alleged crime was been charged under IPC sections 366A (procurement of a minor girl), 370 (trafficking) and 120B and relevant sections of the Pocso Act.
If convicted, she faces more than seven years in jail.
“During our interaction with the CCL (child in conflict with law), we have found her to be mature enough from which it can be inferred that she does possess the mental and physical capability to understand the nature and consequences of the act she is alleged to have committed.
“The report tabled by the Medical Board also revealed that she is capable of understanding any given information, can appreciate the consequence of her action and is capable of communicating her decisions meaningfully,” the order said.
The accused was assessed by a medical board comprising clinical psychologists from SSKM Hospital and the Institute of Psychiatry.
“There is an alarmingrate of persons under theage of 18 committing heinous offences such as rape and human trafficking,” saidJoanna Shireen Sarkar, the lawyer representing the survivor.
The survivor, who has received a victim compensation of Rs 50,000, now works as a sales woman at a store in south Kolkata.