Amid recurring incidents of midnight cattle smuggling and border killings of illegal "inflitrators", there are also occasional tales of fellow-feeling and human warmth like that of a 15-year-old Bangladeshi girl, fleeing her abusive father, crossed the India-Bangla international border into India’s West Bengal and was rescued by the Border Security Force (BSF). 

The girl, a resident of Bangladesh's Jhenaidah district which shares a border with West Bengal’s 24 North Paraganas district, refused to go back to her home. 

“She said that her father thrashes her regularly for no reason. She even said that she doesn’t want to return home as her father would beat her again,” SS Guleria, DIG BSF (South Bengal Frontier) was quoted as saying by The Hindustan Times 

She was later handed over to Childline India Foundation, an NGO working on child trafficking and child abuse cases with the help of the child welfare committee.

According to BSF officials, the girl traveled around 3 km on foot and crossed the border to enter West Bengal through an unfenced patch. It was then that the BSF personnel spotted her and she was rescued on Thursday evening.

“She had no luggage and was not carrying any money. We wanted to send her back but she was so traumatized that she refused to go back,” Guleria said, adding that Bangladesh authorities have been informed. 

(SAM)