On June 13, 2024, our investigators received a lead about a minor girl being sexually exploited in a hotel in Akola (approximately 155 miles from Nagpur). After collecting evidence, we attempted to meet with the Superintendent of Police, SP. He was on leave, so we met with the Additional Superintendent of Police, ADSP, and requested that he act quickly and discreetly. The ADSP directed us to a police cell in Akola.
The police cell in Akola was occupied with other police matters until June 19, so we contacted the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit to help, but they said they could not be involved without authorization from the ADSP.
We contacted the SP again, but he was still unavailable. One of his officers messaged us and said the SP would be available the following day, but we told him we needed to act hastily since the victim might be moved and we could lose track of her. Since the SP was unavailable that day, we contacted the ADSP and requested his urgent assistance. He relented, and assigned a special police officer to assist us. We explained the situation to the special police officer, and he agreed to initiate a raid immediately.
The police prepared their teams for the raid, and on June 14, at 5:30 p.m., we finally received confirmation of the victim’s location; she was in the hotel near the railway station. The police and our team promptly raided the brothel. Our team rescued 17-year-old Hema who was in one of the rooms. The police arrested the pimp and the hotel owner. After the police completed their initial reports, we all proceeded to the police station.
At the police station, officers discovered that two additional people from Washim were implicated in the prostitution ring, so the police dispatched a team to arrest them. Of the three accused males, one was in his 20s, and two were in their 40s. We later learned that the 20-year-old boy was involved in a physical relationship with the survivor, Hema.
The police filed the First Information Report (FIR) later that night, and the next day, Hema was presented before the Child Welfare Committee, who placed her in a temporary shelter home.
On June 20th, Hema shared her 164 statement* at a court in Akola. Hema is eager to be released and does not want to stay in the shelter home, so she has been pushing against our team's efforts to support and help her after her rescue. Since she is a minor, she was placed in the shelter home for her safety; we are hopeful we can connect with her and help her feel safe and loved in the home.
*𝘈 164 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘮 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘮'𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴.
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