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18 nabbed for trafficking women
12/07/2003 11:55 - (SA)
Beijing - Police in southern China have arrested 18 people suspected of kidnapping and selling young women into marriage in impoverished rural areas of China, state press reported on Saturday.
The 18 suspects were being detained for the disappearance of 42 women who were allegedly abducted and sold as brides in rural areas of Guangdong, Zhejiang, Fujian and Jiangsu provinces, the China Daily reported.
The report said that the victims, aged between 17 and 26, were from rural areas in Guangdong, Guizhou, Hunan and Sichuan provinces and Chongqing Municipality who fetched an average of 5 000 yuan each when sold into marriage.
Police in Guangdong, which borders Hong Kong, called it the biggest human trafficking case in the province.
One victim was lured away from her job in Guangdong's Zhongshan city and told she could make more money in neighbouring Fujian province, but was allededly abducted in Fujian, raped and forced to marry a local farmer.
She escaped from the farmer in February and returned to Zhongshan where she reported her plight to police, beginning the cross province investigation, it said.
Chinese officials estimate there are 10 000 cases of women and children being trafficked in China each year, of which 90% involve women and 10% children.
The United Nations Children's Fund stated in a 2001 report that in recent decades, more than 250 000 women and children have been victims of trafficking within China.
- AFX
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