A 14-year-old Bangladeshi girl rescued from a prostitution ring in Palghar, Maharashtra, has told police that she was sexually abused by at least 200 men over three months. Authorities are investigating her claims.
The girl was rescued on July 26 after a search of a flat in Naigaon, Vasai. The operation was carried out by the Mira-Bhayander Vasai-Virar Police’s Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) in collaboration with the Harmony Foundation and Exodus Road India Foundation.
Three of the five victims rescued are Bangladeshi nationals. Among the people detained, six are from Bangladesh. Two women, aged 33 and 32, are accused of helping the girl enter India illegally and have been arrested. Ten people have been taken into custody so far.
According to her statement at a juvenile facility, the girl was first taken to Nadiad, Gujarat, where she was sexually abused. The girl fled home after failing a class. A woman acquaintance reportedly forced her into India and then into prostitution.
Police officials indicated that the girl may have been given hormonal injections to induce early puberty. Human rights advocate Madhu Shankar noted that some victims are taken from different regions as infants, kept with traffickers, and later forced into prostitution after receiving such injections.
Reports suggest that the girl was sedated and branded with a hot spoon in an effort to force her into prostitution. Police teams have been deployed across the country to catch other members of the ring.
The police are working to expose the entire operation and provide safe conditions for vulnerable children. A complaint was filed on July 27 under multiple laws, including the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO).
The victims rescued in Naigaon were reportedly trafficked to cities including Gujarat, Karnataka, Navi Mumbai, and Pune in Maharashtra. Police said agents Juber Harun Sheikh (38), Shamim Gafar Sardar (39), and the main suspect, Mohammad Khalid Abdul Bapari (33), who allegedly transported victims across cities, are in custody.