KATHMANDU, July 24: Forty-seven Nepali women, who were being trafficked abroad using Delhi as a new transit point, have been rescued from India and are being brought back to Nepal.
The women were intercepted at Delhi airport on Wednesday evening with the help of the Nepali Embassy in New Delhi, according to a senior government source. The traffickers had reportedly planned to send them to Gulf countries on visit visas.
Instead of being flown directly to Kathmandu, the women will be brought to Bhairahawa and housed in a safe shelter where they will receive counseling, the source added.
Emergence of Delhi route
The traffickers are believed to have switched to the Delhi route after the Nepal government tightened immigration checks at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in Kathmandu. The Ministry of Home Affairs recently deployed 44 newly appointed immigration officers at TIA to break the existing ‘setting’ between travel agents and airport staff that allowed illegal departures.
Following the crackdown, traffickers began rerouting women through India, particularly through Delhi, before flying them abroad, as this incident shows.
Additionally, to prevent suspicious activities masked as technical glitches, the Department of Immigration has set up an alternative data center since mid-July. This ensures that airport services remain functional even if the government’s main data center faces issues.
The newly deployed officials at TIA include Anil Chapagain, Taman Sigdel, Dipendra Prasad Acharya, and Roshan Guragain, among others.