In the last week of June 2024, we received a lead for a minor being sexually exploited in a private brothel around 56 miles from Nagpur. Although we immediately verified the lead, we faced some issues on the ground so we could not conduct a raid for a few weeks.
On July 16, we shared our information with the police and asked them to initiate a raid. The policeman in charge was reluctant to help us, so we made an appointment with the Nagpur Rural Superintendent of Police (SP). The SP connected us with the Anti Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU), who agreed to initiate a raid.
On July 17, at 4:09 p.m., the police and our team raided the private brothel. The police arrested the house owner and the pimp. We searched the building and found the minor victim, 16-year-old Diya on the first floor, as well as three other women and one man. After the police completed their initial report, we proceeded to the police station with the minor, the women from the brothel and the man.
The police officer who filed the report only attached a PITA (Immoral Traffic Prevention Act) to the case file, which does not account for the fact that Diya was trafficked. We intervened, and produced Diya's school certificate as evidence for her age (16 years old). We then contacted the SP, who called the police station, and instructed the officer to add POCSO (Protection of Children against Sexual Offences Act) to the case file.
The police completed filing the FIR (First Information Report) at 4 a.m. on July 18. We accompanied Diya to her medical tests, and then to a shelter home where she remains safe.
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