Mancherial Tribal Women Missing for Months Found Sold in MP
HYDERABAD: Six months after two tribal women went missing from Mancherial town, police traced them to Madhya Pradesh, where traffickers allegedly sold them to two businessmen for ₹2.5 lakh each.
Police arrested three people on human trafficking charges. The accused allegedly took the women to Madhya Pradesh, posed as their relatives, and arranged their marriages to the businessmen in exchange for money. The key accused remains on the run.
Police booked the accused under Sections 318(4) (cheating) and 143 (trafficking) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The victims, who belong to a village in Bejjur mandal of Kumuram Bheem Asifabad district, have now returned home.
The two women had lived in Mancherial since May 2025 and worked at a shopping mall. The case came to light in September 2025 after a 65-year-old woman filed a missing complaint about her 24-year-old daughter and her 26-year-old friend.
No clues for months, victims remained untraceable
The complainant told police that her daughter last visited home during a local festival in June 2025. She later informed relatives that they had taken up temporary jobs in Bhupalpally district and Chandrapur in Maharashtra.
“Since July 18, my daughter’s phone has been switched off. We tried unsuccessfully to locate them in Mancherial,” she said.
Police found no leads during the initial investigation, and the women remained untraceable for months.
“Recently, we received information about their whereabouts and traced them to a town in Madhya Pradesh on March 14. Both are now married to local businessmen, and one of them is pregnant,” an investigator said.
Police then brought the women and their husbands to Bejjur police station and recorded their statements.
Middlemen misled buyers, forced marriages
According to investigators, the businessmen told police that in July 2025, Prashant alias Babloo and his wife Savita approached them through Mahesh and Rahul with marriage proposals.
“Prashant claimed he was the maternal uncle of the women. The businessmen paid ₹2.5 lakh each as brokerage,” said Santosh Kumar, Circle Inspector of Koutala.
The victims told police that Prashant and Savita were their neighbours in Mancherial and that they had initially rejected the proposal.
“Despite their refusal, the accused, along with Mahesh, forcibly took them to Madhya Pradesh by train and conducted their marriages in a temple,” the officer added.
Based on the statements, police arrested Prashant, Savita, and Mahesh on Thursday and produced them before a local court. The court remanded them to judicial custody on Friday. Police are continuing efforts to arrest Rahul.
