The Allahabad High Court has directed the District Magistrate and the Chairman, District Legal Services Authority, Chitrakoot to inquire into the alleged rampant sexual exploitation of minor girls from poor tribal families in the district. 
 
A division bench comprising the Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice S D Singh passed the order while taking cognisance of an e-mail sent by Dr Abhishek Atrey, a Delhi- based lawyer.
 
In his email, Dr. Atrey cited a report published in the India Today Magazine highlighting alleged sexual abuse of minor girls in Chitrakoot. It also included allegations pertaining to the blatant violation of the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986.
 
“Having considered the material available on record, we deem it appropriate to direct the District Magistrate, Chitrakoot and the Chairman, District Legal Serivces Authority, Chitrakoot to inquire into the entire matter as referred in the report given by India Today Magazine.” the court said.
 
The court has asked both the authorities to submit their separate reports to the Court on or before July 28, 2020
 
The court has directed its registry to send a notice of the petition to the DM, the chairman, the DLSA of Chitrakoot by fax within two days. 
 
The next date of hearing has been fixed for  July 28. 
 
As per a report published by India Today, minor girls from poor tribal families are forced to work in illegal mines in Chitrakoot for survival but the contractors and middlemen don’t pay them their wages easily. Allegedly the minor girls are sexually exploited in lieu of meager wages.
 
Read the Order here:
[pdfviewer]https://theleaflet.in/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/WPILA_722_2020.pdf[/pdfviewer]