Sixteen Nepali children trafficked to India have been rescued and reunited with their families in Madhesh province. The children, aged between 7 and 14, included 14 boys and two girls from Dhanusha, Mahottari, Siraha, Saptari and Rautahat districts.

Two of the boys, aged seven and nine, were lured from Saptari to Janakpur with promises of a train ride. “As soon as we got off the bus, they took us straight to the railway station,” recalled the nine-year-old. “The train left immediately after we boarded. We had no idea where we were going.”

According to Nabin Joshi, a social worker active against human trafficking, the children were rescued from different parts of Mumbai, New Delhi, and Bihar in coordination with the Nepali Embassy in India. “The two girls were rescued just as they were about to be sold into sexual exploitation,” Joshi said during a handover ceremony organised by the Ministry of Sports and Social Welfare of Madhesh province. “Both had been repeatedly abused, and one is now suffering from trauma and needs urgent psychological counselling.”

Joshi added that human traffickers have increasingly been using border points in the Madhesh province to sneak Nepali women and children into India. “Our study shows a sharp rise in trafficking through Madhesh borders,” he said. “Lately, even local children are being taken to India for hazardous labour and exploitation.”

According to child right activists, Nepali children are often forced into sex work, organ trade, domestic labour, and even circus and orchestra performances.

Joshi, who is based in New Delhi, said more than 1,000 Nepali nationals were rescued from India last year with the support of the Nepali Embassy. “Traffickers first keep women and girls in rented flats, promote them on WhatsApp, and then send them to clients for IRs5,000–8,000 per meeting. Later, many are sold to brothels,” he explained.

The rescued children were repatriated with the help of the Rotary Club of Rupandehi Lumbini. Club president Parashuram Parajuli said the scale of child trafficking remains alarming and called for stronger collaboration in rescue and rehabilitation efforts.

Former government secretary Bhim Upadhyaya criticised the government for failing to provide adequate support in anti-trafficking operations.

Meanwhile, Ranjit Kumar Yadav, secretary at the Madhesh provincial Ministry of Sports and Social Welfare, admitted that weak law enforcement has allowed traffickers to exploit vulnerable families. “The provincial government will set up a special fund for the rescue, rehabilitation, and counselling of trafficked children,” Yadav said, pledging closer coordination with NGOs.