'Over 200 raped me in 3 months': 12-year-old girl who left home after failing in school recounts trafficking horror

A 12-year-old Bangladeshi girl rescued from a trafficking racket in Naigaon, Vasai, has alleged that she was sexually abused by more than 200 men over a period of three months. The girl was rescued on July 26 in an operation by the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit of Mira-Bhayandar Vasai-Virar (MBVV) Police with support from NGOs Exodus Road India Foundation and Harmony Foundation. Police have arrested ten people in connection with the case, a TOI report stated.

Survivor’s statement

"At the remand home, the 12-year-old girl said she was first taken to Nadiad in Gujarat and sexually abused by over 200 men in a span of three months. This girl has not even reached her teenage years, but her childhood has been stolen by such monsters in the flesh trade," said Abraham Mathai, founder-chairman of Harmony Foundation.

Mathai said the girl had left home after failing one subject in school. "As the girl had failed in one subject in school, out of fear of her strict parents she decided to run away from home along with a woman who was an acquaintance. The woman sneaked her into India and pushed her into flesh trade," he said. He demanded the arrest of all the men involved.


Police commissioner Niket Kaushik said MBVV police is "using its full force to unearth the entire network and ensure a safe environment for vulnerable adolescents".

Broader concern

Mathai said the incident reflected a larger problem. "Behind every such rescue," he said, "is a child who wasn't heard; a child failed first by those meant to protect her, and then by a society that only reacts when it's too late."

Activist Madhu Shankar said exploitation of minor girls is common in some parts of Mumbai. "I have often seen minor girls begging in Vashi and Belapur areas, who are often stolen as babies from villages, brought to cities and then exploited. They are handled by one or two elderly women who also push them into prostitution. They are even administered hormonal injections so that they attain puberty earlier," she said.

(Based on TOI article)