SIPA investigates the sale of a 14-year-old girl

The State Investigation and Protection Agency of BiH (SIPA) has also become involved in the case of a minor girl of Roma nationality, allegedly sold by O.N. from Sarajevo to S.N. from Goražde, it has been confirmed for the Patria News Agency (NAP).

Media reported yesterday that the police in Goražde suspect that S.N., from the village of Podhranjen near this city, bought a fourteen-year-old girl in Sarajevo from O.N. The case has been handed over to the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA), which is further investigating the matter.

SIPA confirmed for NAP that members of the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) were informed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Bosni Podrinje Canton that a minor girl from the Sarajevo Canton area was found in the Goražde Police Department with a person identified as N.S. in the Goražde municipality, and that there is a suspicion of her being a potential victim of human trafficking.

Members of the State Investigation and Protection Agency, in coordination with the Prosecutor's Office of BiH, are taking further measures and actions within their jurisdiction to shed light on the case, SIPA confirmed.

Last year, the State Department presented shocking data, stating that the police in BiH are also involved in child trafficking.

Although, as further stated in that report, some progress has been made, BiH authorities still do not meet the minimum standards to eliminate human trafficking, NAP reports.