On receiving information from the Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) at Mysuru City Railway station on August 11, 2024, that a girl had locked herself in the Sulabh washroom on platform No. 1, a team of Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel comprising women staff rushed to the spot and coaxed the girl to open the door.
Upon inquiry, the girl, aged around 16 years, revealed her name as Saniya, hailing from South 24 Parganas district in West Bengal and she had left her home without informing her parents. She did not possess any train ticket and upon seeing the TTE, she entered the washroom and locked the door out of fear. She did not give a satisfactory reply when asked why she had come to Mysuru.
The girl was provided with food, water, and a safe shelter before she was counselled by RPF Sub-Inspector Namitha and handed over to the District Child Protection Unit (DCPU) to be produced before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) of Mysuru for a reunion with her parents.
She was one of the 36 boys and girls rescued by the RPF in Mysuru and handed over to the DCPU in 2024.
On the occasion of the recent National Girl Child Day observed on January 24 every year, the Inspector General-cum-Principal Chief Security Commissioner, RPF, South Western Railway, Hubbali, R.S.P. Singh said, “A total of 15,703 children including 4,472 girls were rescued by RPF across India through its ‘Operation Nanhe Farishtey’ in 2024. The RPF has protected thousands of children from potential harm and provided them with safety and support.”
Also, the Meri Saheli initiative by RPF focuses on the safety of female passengers, including girls, during their entire train journey.
Dedicating teams of female RPF personnel to interact with women passengers and ensuring their security from the originating station to the destination is one of the key objectives of the initiative. Currently, 250 Meri Saheli teams are deployed daily, covering over 600 trains across the Indian Railways network. In 2024, a total of 46,64,906 lonely travelling female passengers, including girl children, were attended by the RPF Meri Saheli team to ensure their safe journey.
Recognising the menace of human trafficking, the RPF has established Anti-Human Trafficking units (AHTU) at key railway stations. These units work in tandem with the Government Railway police, local police, intelligence agencies, NGOs, and CWCs to intercept trafficking activities, he said.
“A total of 153 AHTU of RPF are functioning in Indian Railways. In 2024, the AHTU team rescued 1,511 victims, including 99 girl children, with the arrest of 456 traffickers,” the statement added.
