NEW DELHI: Over 8,000 cases of human trafficking were reported in India in 2016, with 23,000 victims, including 182 foreigners rescued in the year, as per data from the National Crime Records Bureau. A total of 8,132 cases were reported from across the country last year, as compared to 6,877 cases of 2015. As per the latest NCRB statistics on crime released for last year, of 58 per cent of the total 15,379 victims in these cases were below the age of 18.
The list in reported cases of human trafficking was topped by West Bengal at 579, accounting for 44 per cent of the total cases in India. The state had reported 1,255 similar cases in 2015, ranking only second to Assam. The North-Eastern state, meanwhile, only reported 91 cases of human trafficking in 2016, a drastic reduction since 2015 when it ranked first with 1,494 incidents. Rajasthan is second on the current list with 1,422 cases, followed by Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
Rajasthan had reported 131 cases of human trafficking, while Gujarat had registered 47. Delhi on number 14 in the list with 66 cases, down from 87 in 2015. As per the rate of crime, West Bengal retained first position, and was closely followed by union territories Daman and Diu, and Goa. A total of 23,117 human trafficking victims were rescued last year, with the police saving 63 people a day on average. Thirty three of the foreigners rescued were identified as Bangladeshi, and 73 from countries like Thailand and Uzbekistan.
