Patna: Bihar has emerged as one of India’s leading centres for human trafficking, with hundreds of victims—many of them minors—being exploited for prostitution, forced labour, and child marriage, according to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data.
The report reveals that in 2023, Bihar registered 132 human trafficking cases, with a total of 510 victims, including 353 minors. Of these, 261 were boys and 92 were girls. This places Bihar second in the country for trafficking of minors, behind Rajasthan (358) and ahead of Odisha (181).
The NCRB data paints a grim picture of organised trafficking networks in the state, which has become a transit and destination hub for both domestic and cross-border trafficking. Six of the identified victims were of Nepali origin, highlighting the international dimension of the problem.
In Bihar, the most common purposes of trafficking were prostitution (155 victims) and forced child labour (93 victims), followed by forced marriage (2 victims). Another 254 individuals were trafficked for various other reasons.
Although 510 victims were successfully rescued, the justice system has struggled to deliver convictions. Of the 132 registered cases, charge sheets were filed in 114, a high 95.8% charge-sheeting rate, yet no convictions were reported. In total, 339 people were arrested, with 334 being charge-sheeted.
Compared to 2022, Bihar saw a significant drop in registered human trafficking cases—from 260 down to 132. However, experts warn that this decline may not necessarily indicate an improvement, but rather underreporting and weaker detection mechanisms.
At the national level, Bihar follows Maharashtra (388 cases), Telangana (336), and Odisha (162) in total trafficking incidents. The state remains at fourth place overall in India in terms of total victims trafficked.
Despite repeated government promises to curb trafficking through rehabilitation programmes and inter-state coordination, Bihar continues to struggle with socio-economic factors that make women and children vulnerable—such as poverty, migration, and lack of education.
