Self-proclaimed Baba gets 10 years in jail for trafficking girls

New Delhi: Baba Bamdev Ram who was accused of trafficking tribal girls, has been sentenced to ten years of imprisonment by Delhi High court.

He was facing trials involving rape, kidnapping and causing grave injuries. He is self-proclaimed Baba who would traffic the tribal girls in the pretext of providing awareness, as per a news report by India Today.

A girl from Jharkhand had accused him and his unidentified accomplice of kidnapping her along with her brother after she complained to police about his alleged racket. She mentioned in her police complaint that she and her brother were confined to the second floor of a building in Vishnu Garden, where he repeatedly raped her and filmed it.

He also gave her threats for killing her brother if she does not do what he said. Baba Bamdev and his allies Ramji Maharaj would illegally bring tribal girls to Delhi forcing them to work for him. He also started an NGO in order to hide his crimes.

“Bamdev used to organises an Adivasi Sammelan in Delhi on December 25 every year and brought thousands of tribal girls from Jharkhand in the name of awareness and uplift. In real, it was like a platform for mass trade. “There have been instances when he made smut films of his unassuming victims to mount pressure on them,” said a child right activist.

Rakesh Senger, an activist with Bachpan Bachao Andolan said, dressed as a pious man Bamdev enjoyed patronage from police and politicians too.

Rishi Kant, an anti-human trafficking activist said, “Bamdev’s imprisonment is a welcome move. It’s good to see that the judiciary is taking up trafficking cases seriously.”

Baba Bamdev was arrested in August 2014 in Jharkhand. He would operate his work in Ranchi, Gumla, Latehar, Simdega, Lohardaga, where he attracted the girls by promising them work in New Delhi.