Patna, Jul 31 (IANS): A total of 16 girls, including some minors, were rescued from a red light area in Bihar's Sitamarhi district in a joint effort by the state police and a Delhi-based NGO on Friday.

Sitamarhi's DSP, HQ, P.N. Sahu, who led the raid, said that six of the rescued girls are minors. The district police also arrested eight persons, including some touts and owners of the brothels where the victims were being kept.

"A Delhi-based NGO contacted our SP and informed that five minor girls were trafficked recently to the red light area in Sitamarhi district for prostitution. Accordingly, on the direction of the SP, we have raided the place and rescued 16 girls including 6 minors," he said.

A NGO member, who did not want to be identified, said: "The family members of the victims came in contact with our NGO. They said that some people came to their village, offered lucrative jobs with good payment, and took away five minor girls. After some days, the girls lost contact with their parents, who then they contacted us."

Sahu said: "The victims, after the rescue operation, revealed their ordeal. They were tortured inside the brothel and forced to adopt prostitution. Those who refused to do so... the owner of the brothel kept them in a room without any food for three or four days. Some of them tried to flee from the brothel, and were kept inside the cellar without any food. The brothel employee also gave injections to minor girls probably for hormonal growth."

"The victims are natives of West Bengal, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar. Further investigation is on," he added.