Freedom Firm received a call from the Nagpur police on Thursday last week with information about Prena* a 14-year-old girl in prostitution.
Prena was being forced to prostitute in Mumbai by Priya, Bindoo Khalkor’s daughter. Bindoo Khalkor is the main accused in Ruma’s case, a girl previously rescued by Freedom Firm. Recently, Ruma testified boldly against Bindoo Khalkor and identified her in court as the brothel keeper who forced her into prostitution. Bindoo had to attend a court date in Nagpur to testify in Ruma’s* case on Thursday. Surprisingly, she came along with Prena.
We discovered later that another anti-trafficking organization had identified Prena in prostitution in Mumbai, tried to rescue her but were not successful. Bindoo brought Prena to Nagpur to keep her from being rescued in Mumbai. When Bindoo was in court, the police noticed her with Prena and notified our staff.
On Friday, when a bogus customer from Freedom Firm went to Bindoo’s brothel he saw that it was the same brothel where Ruma was rescued. Prena was seen with wounds on her body from the horrific abuses she faced at the hands of her customers and brothel keeper. Even though Prena looked not more than 14 years old, the brothel keeper had made a fake Aadhar (I.D) card that mentioned her age as 16 years.
With the help of the Nagpur police, Prena was rescued on Friday evening. She is placed at a safe governmental home where she can begin to recover. As for Bindoo, she is in custody, and we hope that this time around she will be denied bail and eventually convicted for her trafficking crimes.
Read more to discover what happens to Bindoo.
*Names changed to protect identity
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