HYDERABAD: Adilabad police arrested a couple from Maharashtra on Saturday for trafficking a minor tribal girl for Rs 10,000.A rape case has also been registered against a man in Rajasthan under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act for repeatedly sexually abusing the girl. He has not yet been arrested. The couple has been charged with human trafficking and kidnapping.Bheempur police registered a case on June 22 after the girl’s family reported her missing, having failed in their attempts to trace her.According to the police, the girl, a Class 10 student, was living with her mother’s relatives when the Maharashtra couple took her away. Adilabad deputy superintendent of police L Jeevan Reddy said that on June 2, while the girl was alone at home, Nirmala Bapunja Athra, 47, and her husband Bapunya Rajaram Athra, 49, from Kinhla village in Yavatmal district, Maharashtra, approached her.The couple was in the Adilabad village as they knew people there.They reportedly engaged the girl in conversation, misled her, and abducted her.They first took her to Adilabad, then travelled by bus to Nagpur, and from there by train to Kota in Rajasthan. “They then took her to a village, threatened her, and handed her over to a man,” said the DSP, adding that the man, Karan alias Bhagavath Menon, kept her at his house and repeatedly sexually abused her. According to cops, after learning from Nirmala Athra that girl’s family had filed a complaint, Karan handed the girl back to her on June 23. Police said Karan is married and divorced.Nirmala and Rajaram brought the girl back to Adilabad, and she returned home on June 25. The DSP said the couple was arrested at Adilabad railway station while attempting to flee.(The victim’s identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)
