On 17th March 2026, we got intel that a minor was being sexually exploited in an apartment at a government housing society. The next day we travelled to Moradabad and were able to verify the intel. The brothel was being run on the second floor of the building. The housing society was located in an extremely busy area in Moradabad.
We took all the evidence of the minor and went to the police. The police were not very cooperative and someone from the police even tipped off the brothel and the victim was then moved.
For over three weeks we were unable to track the victim.
In the second week of April, we got intel that the victim was back in the brothel.
On 16th April, we visited the Senior Superintendent of Police’s, SSP, office. Since it was a public holiday he was not in his office.
The next day we were back in his office and shared the evidence we had on the minor victim. He reviewed the evidence and directed us to meet the Circle Officer in the Kotwali Police Station in Moradabad.
The Circle Officer reviewed our information and expressed her readiness to support the rescue operation. Since the victim’s location fell outside her jurisdiction she said we needed to get approval from the Senior Officer from the Civil Lines Police Station.
The Senior Officer from the Civil Lines Police Station was unavailable on the 15th April.
On 16th April we finally were able to reach him. He directed us to meet the Station House Officer, SHO, from another Police Station in Majhola (a small town in Moradabad.)
The SHO was uncooperative and disrespectful. He instructed us to contact the Circle Officer from Civil Lines for the rescue. When we called the Circle Officer from Civil Lines, he told us to proceed with the SHO Majhola for the rescue and he would join us later at the location.
On 16th April at 3:33 pm the police and our team raided the brothel. A 16 year old child who was being sexually exploited was rescued from the brothel. The police arrested one male and two females who were present at the brothel.
The police continued to be uncooperative. They started to argue with our team and also used foul language. Their entire behaviour pre and post the rescue operation was unprofessional. The Circle Officer Civil Lines asked us to leave stating that we were only the support personnel.
We left the rescue location. We contacted the SSP and the Child Welfare Committee and gave them an update of the situation.
Shortly after our call to the SSP, the Anti Human Trafficking Unit, AHTU, called us and directed us to return to the rescue location.
At the rescue location, an officer from the Anti Human Trafficking Unit, AHTU and the SHO, Majhola, escorted the victim, 16 year old Iqra to the Child Welfare Committee, CWC. The three accused were also brought to the Child Welfare Committee, CWC.
The CWC spoke to Iqra and encouraged her to share a clear statement. After Iqra shared her statement, she was placed in a temporary shelter home.
On 17 April we received a call from the Station House Officer, from Majhola Police Station and the Child Welfare Committee to proceed with registering the First Information Report.
We went to the police station with our advocate and filed the First Information Report, FIR. The police made a few changes to the FIR. We immediately emailed a detailed report to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights about all the challenges we faced with the police throughout the rescue operation.
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