Sneha's Legal Win!

Sneha at a bookstore a few years ago

Sneha was first rescued by the police and our team in August, 2019, from a brothel in Moradabad, UP. She was 13 years old. Her grandmother had been selling her to customers from the time she was 12!

After her rescue, Sneha lived in a protective home. After three years in the protective home, Sneha's grandmother petitioned the Child Welfare Committee, CWC, for her custody.

Despite multiple protests from our team, the CWC granted custody to her grandmother. Our team fought it, and Sneha was brought back to the protective home. She barely lived at the protective home for a few months when the CWC, after Sneha's grandmother petitioned them for custody again, granted her custody once again.

Our team was only able to meet Sneha a few times because her grandmother kept sending her out of the house on errands.

In December 2023, our team received solid intel that Sneha was being sexually exploited in a brothel in Agra, UP. The police and our team raided the brothel, and once again, rescued Sneha.

For years, we tried to help Sneha understand that her grandmother was the villain in her story, but it was only when her grandmother showed interest in exploiting Sneha's younger sister that Sneha started to understand. In early 2025, Sneha decided to testify against her grandmother in court. Sneha faithfully attended court and bravely testified despite several threats from her grandmother. 

In May 2024, the accused in Sneha's case applied for bail, but the bail was rejected at the Allahabad High Court.

Early 2025, Sneha was summoned to court. She testified against her grandmother. Her grandmother was enraged, and began to threaten her. But Sneha stood firm, and refused to back down.

From the time she was rescued in 2019, Sneha has been in and out of courts. After waiting for seven long years, on September 21, 2026 Sneha received justice for her 2023 case.

Sneha's grandmother and the other two individuals involved in exploiting Sneha were finally convicted, and sentenced to seven years in prison.

Sneha wants the people who exploited her in 2019 to also be convicted. Since her grandmother was one of the accused in the 2019 case, we are hoping that her grandmother receives a second prison sentence that she will serve after the initial seven years.