A 12-year-old girl from Bangladesh has been rescued from a prostitution ring in India after she was raped by more than 200 men in just three months.
Officers said the girl’s ordeal began when she failed a school subject and feared being beaten by her parents.
She ran away with the help of a woman she knew, who smuggled her across the border and sold her into the sex trade, according to police.
Police said she was first taken to Nadiad in Gujarat, where she was repeatedly abused.
Ten people have been arrested, but campaigners say the rescue is only the start.
She was freed on July 26 during a joint operation by the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit of the Mira-Bhayandar Vasai-Virar police, working with NGOs Exodus Road India Foundation and Harmony Foundation.
‘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 the Harmony Foundation.
‘Behind every such rescue 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.’
Mathai also warned that strict parenting can push children into dangerous situations.
Police commissioner Niket Kaushik said officers were using all resources to uncover the entire network and protect other vulnerable children.
However, activists are pushing authorities to do more to protect children from predators.
Madhu Shankar, an activist, said: ‘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.’
Child sex abuse in India has become a massive concern in India.
According to an analysis by Child Rights and You, sexual violence shot up by a staggering 96% from 2016 to 2022.
In 2022 alone, there were nearly 39,000 reported cases of child rape and sexual assaults.
These figures do not take into account the incidents that happen in areas where reporting is not always seen as the best solution.
According to reports, victims and their families are often forced into silence by intimidation and a broken justice system.
In 2022, only 3% of cases involving child rape resulted in any conviction.
