Sixteen Nepali children trafficked to India were rescued and reunited with their families in Madhesh Province. The children, aged between seven and fourteen, included fourteen boys and two girls from Dhanusha, Mahottari, Siraha, Saptari, and Rautahat districts.
Promised a train ride, two boys, ages seven and nine, were lured from Saptari to Janakpur and trafficked across the border.
In coordination with the Nepali Embassy in India, the Madhesh Province Ministry of Sports and Social Welfare rescued children from Mumbai, New Delhi, and Bihar. Two girls were intercepted before being sold into sexual exploitation, and one urgently requires psychological counselling due to trauma.
Social workers have reported a sharp rise in trafficking through Madhesh border points, where traffickers increasingly target children for labour and exploitation. Many trafficked children are forced to do sex work, domestic labour, or circus and orchestra performances.
Human trafficking networks have been known to keep women and girls in rented flats, advertise them through online platforms, and later sell them to brothels. The Nepali Embassy and local organisations coordinated efforts to rescue over a thousand Nepali nationals from India last year.
Supported by the Rotary Club of Rupandehi Lumbini, the latest rescue operation focused on repatriation and family reunification. The club stressed that child trafficking remains a critical issue requiring stronger government and civil society collaboration.
Madhesh Province officials cite weak law enforcement and lack of awareness as factors making vulnerable families susceptible to traffickers. The provincial government plans a special fund to support the rescue, rehabilitation, and counselling of trafficked children.
