Shalima, Rescued from Jalgaon

On July 23, we received a lead from another NGO (non-government organization): 19-year-old Shalima had been trafficked from Bangladesh to Nashik, Maharashtra, about three weeks ago and was being continually threatened by her traffickers.

Shalima was an orphan and lived with her relative in Bangladesh. When she went missing from her home, her relative immediately began to look for her and contacted the Bangladesh High Commission in Mumbai, who reached out to the NGO.

Since the NGO worked outside of Nashik, they passed Shalima’s case onto Freedom Firm. Our team immediately left for Nashik. When we arrived, we learned that Shalima had been moved from Nashik to Jalgaon, so our team journeyed 155 miles to Jalgaon.

On the morning of July 24, our team coordinated with the police to narrow down Shalima's location. At 1 p.m., the police determined her exact location: she was being held captive in an old bungalow in Jalgaon. The police and our team raided the bungalow and rescued Shalima, and the police detained another person who was with Shalima.