Shami Shares Her Story

Shami (left) shares her story with Zeenat

On November 26, our team rescued 15-year-old Shami from a brothel in Mumbai. During her rescue, Shami shared with our volunteer, Zeenat, her heartbreaking story of her childhood and trafficking experience.

Shami’s father died in a tragic road accident when she was a young girl, leaving Shami and her mother to survive alone. They moved to a slum in Dhaka, Molla Bari, where Shami’s mother worked tirelessly as a maid. Shami attended a government school in Khilgaon until third grade, then dropped out of school.

When she was 15 years old, Shami’s life took a sharp turn. In March 2025, on the 9th evening of Ramadan, Shami accompanied her friend into town for an iftar (a traditional Ramadan meal/snack). Golden and colorful lights lit the streets of Molla Bari, and the air was rich with the sweet smell of iftar delicacies. The village was bustling and busy, and before she knew it, Shami was kidnapped. Traffickers snatched her from the beautiful scene, and she entered a world of horror.

Shami’s mother arrived home after a long day of work. She waited for Shami to return. When it began to get late and there was no sign of Shami, her mother went out to search for her. She checked Shami’s friend's home, but Shami was not there. She checked the streets and shops, but Shami was nowhere to be found. 

Anxious and afraid, Shami went to the Rampura police station and filed a missing complaint, General Diary (GD). The police showed little support. A few days later, Shami’s mother received a phone call. The caller informed her that Shami had been taken to Chennai—1,200 miles away from her home—and they demanded 6 lakh taka (~$5,000). They threatened to sell Shami to another party if Shami’s mother did not provide the money. With barely enough resources to feed herself and her daughter, Shami’s mother believed all hope of retrieving her daughter was lost.  

A few days later, Shami’s mother received a text message with pictures and videos of Shami in India. She then received another message from a couple claiming they had bought Shami for 175,000 taka (~$1,400) and threatened to sell her again if they were not paid. Once again, Shami’s mother felt hopeless and did not know what to do.

A few days later, Shami contacted her mother and explained that after she was kidnapped, she was told she would be provided with good food, decent clothes, and a job at a beauty parlor where she would earn a good salary. None of these promises were ever fulfilled. Instead, her traffickers drugged and exploited her. Shami told her mother to surrender any hope of Shami ever returning home because her life was now controlled by the traffickers and she had no way of escape. 

While Shami was under the watch of the traffickers, she met another Bangladeshi victim who was able to contact Shami’s mother on her behalf. She informed Shami’s mother that Shami was unable to leave because her traffickers possessed explicit videos of Shami, and they threatened to publicize them if Shami ever tried to escape. She also learned that Shami and several other victims were detained in a hotel. Shami’s mother filed a second complaint on March 15, 2025, and requested the police to work for her rescue and repatriation to Bangladesh. Our team learned about Shami’s case and was able to find and rescue Shami in November 2025.