On 3 December 2025, we received intel about two victims being sexually exploited at a hotel located on the Ahmednagar Pune highway. Our team travelled to Ahemadnagar to verify the lead.
The hotel was running a brothel on the ground floor. It consisted of four rooms. The brothel looked like someone’s home – a living room, a kitchen, four washrooms.
After verifying the lead and gathering sufficient information, we were at the Ahmednagar Police station to meet the Superintendent of Police, SP, to get him to initiate a raid. We learned that the SP was on leave for the next few days. We were directed to meet the Additional Superintendent, ACP. We gave him an overview of Freedom Firm and submitted a written request for conducting a rescue operation. He stated that the police would handle the rescue independently and did not want Freedom Firm to be involved. We tried to reach out to the Anti- human Trafficking Unit, AHTU, for their assistance but were unsuccessful.
On 8th December, we received a call from a police officer from Ahmednagar Police Station sharing that they would initiate a rescue operation on the following day.
On 9th December at 5:00 pm the police and our team raided the hotel. The police rescued the minor along with six women from the brothel. The police arrested two customers and the hotel owner who was heavily inebriated. During the rescue operation, two victims escaped from an exit located at the rear of the building. Our team had some issues on the field but persisted with collecting evidence.
After a lot of back and forth between the police and our team, the First Information Report, FIR, was registered on the 10th morning at 4:09 am. The seven victims and our team spent the night in the police station while the police were collecting details for the FIR. The customers were released and the accused was taken into police custody.
Later that day, the seven victims were taken for their medical examination after which they were produced before the Judicial Magistrate and their statements were recorded on camera. The court ordered 7 days temporary placement for the six adult victims at a One Stop Centre, (temporary shelter) while the minor victim was placed in a shelter home.
Recent Comments