Ending Human Trafficking India Project #57514

RESCUING 5 GIRLS FROM HUMAN TRAFFICKING

by Fundacion Sonrisas de Bombay

Project Report | Jun 12, 2025
Two minor girls rescued

By Jorge de Ory Murga | Chief Operating Officer

We keep our peaceful and tireless struggle against human trafficking and exploitation in the Indian city of Mumbai, as well as other South Asian regions. In this opportunity we would like to highlight a case particularly outrageous, as the victims were minor girls. They were being forced into prostitution with adult men at an age when they should have been playing and going to school.

These girls were needy and extremely vulnerable, as they came from poor families who had many difficulties to bring them ahead. As is often the case in these cases, a man without morals or scruples appeared and saw nothing more than a business opportunity in these girls' situation.

He started to promise them a better life, and was eventually able to establish a pretended frienship with them. Unfortunately, what he really had in mind was a very different reality, and soon the two girls found themselves far from their families and forced to have sex with several adult men each and every day in a Hotel in Nallasopara, a city in the outskirts of the Mumbai Metropolitan region. He even used to blackmail and threaten them in order to force them to stay with him and not try to escape.

Our team came to know about the situation of these girls and started coordinations with Anti Human Trafficking police units to develop a rescue operation which was totally succesful: both girls were transfered to a specialized shelter home where they started their recovery process, and the trafficker was arrested and is in the process of being charged and prosecuted.

This is one of the occasions where there is a favorable and hopeful outcome for the victims. They now have the opportunity to return to the normal life expected of girls their age.

And as for the trafficker, we hope that the law will prevail and he will receive the punishment he deserves. Especially since in the meantime, he will no longer be able to continue subjugating or exploiting other girls.

However, we are not always able to find a satisfactory end to these types of situations. It is difficult and risky to follow the leads we receive until we find the place where the victims are being sexually exploited. And when we do, sometimes the operation ends in failure and the trafficker manages to escape with his victims, leaving us with the frustration of not having been able to save them.

That is why your support is always so important, because every successful rescue operation requires a lot of effort, many hours of work, many leads followed, and many expenses.

And that's why, when, like this one, we can celebrate the rescue of two girls, we feel proud and very, very grateful to you for your support.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

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Feb 12, 2025
Two young boys rescued from labor exploitation

By Jorge de Ory Murga | COO

A member of our team escorts a rescued boy

Human trafficking does not only affect girls or women. Young boys from vulnerable communities also can become victims of traffickers, who force them into slavery and labor exploitation.

Last Wednesday, January 29, our team rescued two young brothers at Mumbai Central Railway Station. Both were being exploited in a welding workshop, without any payment and in very dangerous conditions, having to carry heavy metal rods.

The boys, aged 14 and 17, had been working in this workshop since August, and suffered constant physical aggressions abuses from the owner. The monthly salary of 7,000 rupees that they were promised (barely 80 US Dollars) was only paid the first two months. After that, they did not receive any money at all, despite their had work.

When our team met them, they were trying to escape by train and return to their village, but they had hardly any money, and were alone, nervous and very scared. Being so young and stressed, and in such a crowded place where nobody pays attention to any other, they were extremely vulnerable to be recaptured, punished and returned to slavery and exploitation.

Fortunately, our Rescue team was able to act on time, and the boys are now in a safe place. We have also contacted their families and begun the arrangements for them to be escorted back to their village.

This rescue is the first we have carried out since we became part of the aid and detection team for cases of human trafficking at Mumbai Central Station. Once again, these boys come from a rural environment in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Their parents, farmers without resources, trusted a third person who promised them to get their children a good job in the city. Once in Mumbai, however, they saw their dreams turn into a nightmare.

Thanks to your support, we can keep rescuing girls, as well as boys, from exploitation and slavery. Thank you!!

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Oct 16, 2024
9 girls freed from sexual exploitation

By Jorge de Ory Murga | COO

SW supports one of the rescued victims.

On September 27, the Sonrisas de Bombay rescue team was able to free 9 girls victims of human trafficking and exploitation, who were being forced into prostitution.

The preparatron of this operation had begun a month before, when the team had been informed about a brothel on Grant Road (Mumbai) where upto nine girls allegedly were being forced into exploitation. As per the received information, five from these girls were from West Bengal, two from Bangladesh, and two others from Mumbai itself. All of them had been deceived and had traveled to the city under fake promises of jobs like domestic work, as actresses or in big companies. The girls, aged between 24 and 35, had immediately been taken to the brothel and forced into prostitution for 5 months.

During previous weeks, members of our team visited the brothel on several occasions to gather information and gain the traffickers'confidence. Finally, it was agreed with the police that the operation would take place on Friday, September 27.

In total, 18 people were involved in the rescue: 12 police officers, 4 members of Sonrisas de Bombay and 2 ciollaborators who acted as decoy clients. The operation began at 4pm and ended at 6am; nine girls were freed and three traffickers were arrested during the raid.

The freed girls were immediately treated by medical personnel and by our social workers, who offered them legal and psychological support. They have all been transferred to a shelter, whereas the three arrested are currently in prison and will have to face a trial.

According to our sources, the girls were not related to each other and had been recruited by acquaintances who had tricked them into going to work in Mumbai. The two victims from Bangladesh will be able to return to their home country, and the authorities are working to support the other girls in their rehabilitation process.

This has been one of the largest operations carried out by our rescue team and, with this, 78 people have already been rescued from human trafficking mafias.

Thanks to the support of people who, like you do, collaborate with us, we can continue carrying out rescue operations like this one and thus achieve a better future for many girls.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

Links:

Macro rescue operation: 9 girls freed from sexual exploitation

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