Six Bangladeshis were found guilty and given life sentences by the NIA Court in the 2019 human trafficking case

INN/New Delhi, @Infodeaofficial

All six defendants in a 2019 human trafficking case involving Bangladeshi girls who were coerced into prostitution after being trafficked into India were found guilty and given life sentences by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Special Court in Hyderabad on Wednesday.

According to certain sections of the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act, 1986 and the Indian Penal Code, the defendants—Mohd. Yousuf Khan, his wife Smt. Bithi Begum, Sojib, Ruhul Amin Dhali, Mohammed Abdul Salam @ Kounla Justin, and Sheela Justin @ Shiuli Khatun—were found guilty. Interestingly, Dhali was seized from West Bengal out of the six accused, while the others were apprehended from Telangana in 2019 and 2020.

In its decisions dated November 6, 2024, the special court fined Rs. 24,000 and condemned all six offenders to life in jail. The accused will be subject to an extra 18 months of simple imprisonment in the event that payment is not made.

According to NIA investigations, the accused smuggled Bangladeshi females into India, where they were coerced into prostitution after luring them with the prospect of good-paying jobs.

During an operation in August 2019, Telangana police rescued five girls from a house in the Kandikal Gate neighbourhood of Uppuguda, Hyderabad, and filed the initial case at the Chatrinaka police station. On September 17, 2019, the NIA re-registered the case after taking over the investigation. Four of the accused were charged by the agency on March 10, 2020, while the other two were charged with further offences in August of the same year.