BENGALURU: A 35-year-old travel agent was arrested at Kempegowda International Airport on the charge of trafficking and sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl. He was allegedly taking her to Delhi after promising her a job on Wednesday.
The girl had run away from Kolar home in search of a job. The accused is M Nagesh, a resident of Bande Bommasandra, near Byappanahalli. At the airport, Central Industrial Security Force sleuths noticed the girl accompanying Nagesh was disturbed and he was trying to console her in the boarding lounge. The sleuths questioned the girl and found she was being trafficked. Nagesh was handed over to police custody and the girl reunited with her family.
Nagesh has been booked under section 370 (trafficking of persons) of IPC as well as the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. He is in judicial custody at the Central Prison.
Police said the girl had come to Bengaluru on Tuesday and was roaming around in Majestic. Nagesh, who was sitting in his office near Good Shed Road, offered her help and took her to a restaurant, where they had lunch.
Saying he could arrange jobs in other cities, Nagesh promised to take her to Delhi soon. He then allegedly took her to a hotel near Devanahalli and got intimate with her, leaving her disturbed. The following morning, Nagesh booked two tickets to Delhi and took the girl to the airport, police said.
“We are probing whether he really knew someone in Delhi or was just bluffing. We are checking his record and contacts to ascertain whether he is a professional trafficker,” an officer said.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)
