Botched Police Operation Results in Child Being Sent Back to the Red-Light Area

Raveena (right) after her rescue

On May 1, 2025, we received intel about a minor victim being forced into prostitution by two female brothel keepers in the red light area in Ganga Jamuna, Nagpur. We faced some challenges when we tried to locate her, but on May 8, we were able to confirm her location and obtained sufficient evidence that she was being exploited.

We presented our evidence to the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP). The DCP examined the evidence and agreed to initiate a raid.

On May 9, our team and the police were ready to conduct a raid, but we faced a new set of challenges. We were unable to locate the victim at the brothel. We spent most of the day waiting for the victim to appear. At 9:30 p.m., we finally saw the victim. But before we could take action, a member from the police team broke protocol and contacted the victim and brothel keepers. Within a few minutes of him making contact, the brothel went on high alert; both the two brothel keepers escaped, and the victim locked herself inside the brothel.

The police were able to convince the victim, Raveena, to exit the brothel, and then we all proceeded to the police station. Since Raveena had no official documents that stated her age, the police assumed she was over 18 years old and booked her as an accused. Our liaison officer spent several hours that evening and into the early hours of the 10th morning attempting to persuade the police to record Raveena as a victim and not an accused, but the police would not listen, and they refused to change their FIR (First Information Report). They went one step further and escorted Raveena back to her house in the red light area, despite us insisting that she was a minor and needed to be placed in a shelter home for her protection. The police cited “unable to keep her overnight” as the reason for releasing her that very night.

The next morning, we met the DCP and gave him a full report on the intervention. The DCP acknowledged the lapses and asked the police in the Lakadganj Police Station to rectify the situation.

The Lakadganj Police ordered Raveena to be placed in a shelter home in Nagpur. On May 13, Raveena appeared before the Sessions Court in Nagpur. Since Raveena had no official documentation stating that she was a minor, and since the police had booked her as an accused, the court ordered Raveena to be released back to her home in the red light area. 

On May 29, we were able to obtain Raveena’s school records and other official documents indicating her age: Raveena was 14 years and three months old. We also learned that Raveena was part of the Kanjar* community and that her mother was involved in sexually exploiting her.

Raveena is back in prostitution, but we have not given up hope, and our team continues to fight for her freedom. This time, we aim to get Nagpur’s Superintendent of Police to assign a team to rescue her. Armed with her official documents, we will ensure that a First Information Report is filed with relevant sections of the law attached to it so that 14-year-old Raveena is placed in a shelter home away from her family, who are a direct threat to her safety and well-being.

*Kanjar Community: This is a nomadic community historically engaged in prostitution. Kanjar women who marry do not participate in prostitution, but girls in the same family are often forced into prostitution from a very young age.