Mumbai Teenager Girl Rescued From Being Trafficked
The rescue operation was successfully carried out under the jurisdiction of Bangur Nagar Police Station, led by the vigilant Mumbai Crime Branch Unit
By : Michael Gonsalves
Update: 2025-06-21 08:00 GMT
Pune: In a horrifying case of child trafficking for quick buck, a 16-year-old target was rescued in the nick of time on Thursday from the heinous clutches of a trafficking network, providing relief to the teenager.
Hailing from Hyderabad and residing in Borivali West, Mumbai, the hapless girl was studying at Sheth Gopalji Hemraj High School & Junior College. The life of this bright young girl studying for her 10th standard board exam nearly got derailed into unthinkable tragedy.
The accused, Rehana Shagir Khan, 26, was allegedly attempting to sell the girl under the gruesome guise of a “virgin sale.” “These cases are among the darkest and most difficult to detect, but nothing compares to the victory of reclaiming a child before she was subjected to irreversible trauma,” Dr Abraham Mathai, founder-chairman of the Mumbai-based Harmony Foundation, an NGO and former vice-chairman of Maharashtra State Minorities Commission told Deccan Chronicle.
The rescue operation was successfully carried out under the jurisdiction of Bangur Nagar Police Station, led by the vigilant Mumbai Crime Branch Unit 8 in close coordination with Shyam Kamble, working for the NGO Exodus India, and Dr Mathai.
"How did we reach a point where a young girl with dreams in her eyes is inches away from being bartered like property?" he asked. "This rescue, though heroic, is not just a celebration — it is a call to the nation’s conscience. We cannot continue to be passive spectators. Child trafficking, especially under the brutal practice of virgin sales, must be dealt with not only with iron hand but with systemic vigilance, public awareness, and moral urgency," Dr Mathai noted.
He commended the DCP of Crime Branch Vishal Thakur, and Kamble of Exodus India for their swift action. "They saved not just a life, but the future of an innocent girl," Dr Mathai said.
He said let this successful rescue operation be a wake-up call and the beginning of a movement to end this horrible business of making a fast buck.
“The Harmony Foundation stands by her and every child like her,” Dr Mathai said, adding that childhood is not a battleground but an innocent sacred phase and all must fight to protect it at any cost.