Suniel Shetty Rescued Girls From Sex Trafficking In 1996, Shares Untold Story

In 1996, 128 girls from Nepal were brought to Mumbai's Kamathipura to be sold as sex workers in the brothels here. However, the women were saved from trafficking and actor Suniel Shetty contributed in sending them back to their homes.

The sex trafficking incident was not disclosed to the media at that time because the police and NGO were trying to ensure the safety of the women being rescued and allegedly wanted to do it under the nose of a dangerous mafia at that time. The case came into notice when one of the survivors of the incident shared how she came back to her country after being trafficked to Kamathipura and the one who helped in their rescue at that time was Suniel Shetty.

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Suniel Shetty Rescued Girls From Brothel In 1996

Shakti Samuha is an organisation that helps the survivors of sex trafficking and its founder, Charimaya Tamang, is the survivor of sex trafficking incident of 1996. In an interview, she shared how she was among the 128 women that the Mumbai police saved with the help of actor Suniel Shetty. She reportedly said, "On February 5, 1996, the whole of Kamathipura, the brothel area, had been cordoned off by police and social workers. They got us out of there. This is how we were rescued. After being rescued, our government (Nepal) refused to bring us back. They said we didn’t have our birth certificates or citizenship cards. That is when your Suneil Shetty supported us."

Later Suniel Shetty disclosed the details of the case and told that the focus of the police teams was to ensure their safe journey back to Nepal. He told that his mother-in-law, who is the founder of Save The Children NGO, worked closely with Mumbai police and Jet Airways to rescue the girls and took the risk of coming in the bad books of the mafia. He emphasised that it was the time to glorify themselves but to ensure the safety of the girls and avoid any hinderance from the mafia.

The Nepal governments neglect of its citizens is being criticised by the people while they appreciate how the authorities and the actor prioritised the privacy of the girls rather than publicity. It hadn't come to light if Charimaya Tamang had not shared this story. Today, she and other survivors of the 1996 incident work together at Shakti Samuha to rescue women from sex trafficking and work towards their rehabilitation.