Trapped by human traffickers and entangled in bureaucratic red tape, three Uzbek sisters have been languishing in a detention center in Bihar for nearly two years, despite a court order for their release. And their elder sister is running from pillar to post but to no avail.
The sisters were apprehended by the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) on the India-Nepal border in Araria while being smuggled from Nepal for illegal activities in Bihar on October 27, 2021.
In August of last year, a lower court in Araria declared them “innocent” and ordered their deportation to Uzbekistan. However, bureaucratic hurdles and jurisdictional complexities have continuously prolonged their captivity.