Kari* was 16 when she was rescued by Freedom Firm investigators and police in Nagpur in November 2016. After her rescue, she was placed at a government shelter home where she revealed that she had a one-year-old son who might be living with her relatives in Rajasthan.
Freedom Firm’s legal team received information from the police that someone had applied for Kari’s custody in court on 9th May 2017. Since our advocate was unavailable, the public prosecutor assisted the team in opposing the custody application since the probation officer of the government shelter home where Kari is now residing stated that Kari was sold and it wasn’t safe for her to return to her family.
Freedom Firm social workers will now request the police to investigate the whereabouts of Kari’s son to prevent Kari’s traffickers from blackmailing her and obtaining her custody.
We are incredibly happy about the support we are receiving from local authorities and the steps they are taking to ensure that Kari is safe. The next court date for the case is on 20th May 2017. We hope that the custody application is denied and that Kari will get her son back.
*Name changed to protect identity