Kamini*, a young girl from rural India, was first rescued in February of 2018, along with three others. She was left in the hands of the local Child Welfare Committee (CWC).
BRAVO Team was shocked and angered to hear that the girl they recently set free was handed back over to traffickers by an organization entrusted to protect her. Bound and determined to find her again, our team in India orchestrated Operation RELENTLESS.
The Big Mistake
Just ten days after her rescue, a female sex trafficker approached the CWC with fake documents for the girl. The CWC made a serious mistake and released Kamini back to the woman—who reportedly lied to and bribed them.
The Exodus Road wasn’t the only organization to learn of the terrible error; word reached national news channels and was spread to the public, exposing the corruption. TER also took the case to higher government officials and demanded a Crime Investigation Department (CID) investigation to bring the perpetrators to justice. As a result, the CWC members involved were dismissed from their positions.
Found & rescued Again
BRAVO Team searched tirelessly for Kamini for 50 days, adamant about finding and freeing her again and ensuring her perpetrators be brought to justice.
After much difficulty, they found her.
She was being held in a private bungalow near a college in an affluent part of the city—in a different district than where she was first found. The brothel had been run for the past three years by a female politician with powerful influence in her community. Because of this, local police were reluctant to conduct the operation. BRAVO Team had to carefully coordinate with senior police officials to maintain top confidentiality of the targeted location until the raid commenced.
On April 26, BRAVO Team worked with police to arrest three female perpetrators and rescue three minor girls (including Kamini, one other 14-year-old, and a 17-year-old) and a 24-year-old woman found at the scene. Kamini was found with the same trafficker who presented the fake documents and took her from the CWC.
Kamini was surprised to see the police during the raid and attempted to hide her face. She told her rescuers that she didn’t know her parents and has been with the pimp since childhood. She was forced into prostitution at the age of 12 and was required to serve multiple customers daily.
Back to Safety
Kamini was placed in a shelter home for rescued minor girls and is now safe. TER’s social workers will continue to follow up with the shelter to ensure nothing changes on that front. BRAVO Team told us that Kamini stood out to them because of her calm demeanor, humility, and kind spirit.
“We could see humbleness on her face always.”
We celebrate the rescue of this precious young girl and the other individuals who stepped out of shattering oppression and into a life of freedom that day. Thank you for taking the time to celebrate with us and recognize the tenacity and courage of those fighting on the front lines.
*Names of survivors are changed for protection. Kamini is representative and means “worthy.”
Search & Rescue
Thank you to everyone who supports our Search & Rescue program, sending our brave and noble investigators to the front lines. We couldn’t do it without you. If you’re not currently sponsoring a team but would love to get involved, you can visit our Search & Rescue page by clicking below. With a $40 monthly donation, you can sponsor one night of local investigations every month, sending our teams out to help find and free more girls like Kamini.
