Nine minor girls and a woman from Bengal were rescued in a police crackdown on a clutch of “orchestras” in Bihar on Tuesday.

They were forced to dance to sleazy numbers at social gatherings, said police and rights activists.

The swoop followed a tip-off from a rights group and the police. A raid was conducted on a home in Sidhwalia village in Gopalganj district early on Tuesday.

Three persons were rescued from the home. Their statements led cops to a handful of other locations in the nearby villages of Mohammadpur and Baikunthpur, in the same district.

“In all, 11 survivors were rescued. One of the girls was from Rajasthan. Five persons have been arrested. A search is on for more suspects,” said a senior police officer in Gopalganj district.

Virender Singh of Mission Mukti Foundation, an NGO that helped the police in the rescue, said: “Among the rescued, 10 are from Bengal, including nine minors. A minor from Rajasthan was also rescued.”

At least two of the minors are from Calcutta, said Singh.

“Some of these girls had been held captive for approximately a year and were forced to perform at social gatherings. Refusal to perform and any attempt to escape would lead to severe beatings,” Singh said quoting the survivors.

The arrested persons were produced in court on Wednesday. The girls and the woman had their statements recorded in front of a judicial magistrate. They will be taken to a shelter home run by the Child Welfare Committee.

Before the raid, the NGO had written to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights. In a November 8 letter, the commission asked the police superintendent of Gopalganj to extend all possible help in the rescue efforts.

Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are the destinations of many girls trafficked from Bengal. They are usually forced to join “orchestras” or village dance troupes. In weddings and other social gatherings, the girls dance to sleazy numbers. Many of them are sexually exploited, said rights activists.

Conversations with those rescued on Tuesday have revealed that some of them were “sold” by their families for money, Singh said.

A 10-year-old girl from Baruipur in South 24-Parganas was reported missing during Durga Puja last year.

The girl was allegedly trafficked and landed in Bihar’s Champaran. She was allegedly forced to join a dance
troupe and subjected to medieval torture.

Two other women, who managed to escape from the troupe, took pity on the girl and took her along. One of the women brought her back to her parents on January 14.

In September 2022, five girls were rescued from the clutches of an alleged trafficker in Patna by the same NGO. The girls were also part of an “orchestra”.