When Suniel Shetty Helped 128 Sex Trafficked Women Return Home to Nepal

Screen hero Suniel Shetty is also a hero in real life. The actor was instrumental in rescuing hundreds of women from Nepal who were victims of human trafficking in 1996. With the help of the police, social workers and his mother-in-law, Suniel arranged for the return of these women to their country.

Survivors tell how Suniel Shetty helped 128 women

An old Vice video features Charimaya Tamang, founder of Shakti Samuha, a Nepal-based organization that helps victims of sex trafficking, recounting her own trafficking experience in 1996 and crediting Suniel Shetty for her rescue.

She recalls, “On February 5, 1996, the entire Kamathipura area, the brothel, was sealed off by the police and social workers. They took us out of there. That’s how we were rescued. After we were rescued, our (Nepali) government refused to take us back. They said we didn’t have our birth certificates or citizenship cards.”

Charimaya added: “That’s when your film hero Suniel Shetty came to our aid. He got air tickets to Kathmandu for 128 women who had been rescued.”

When Suniel Shetty met Charimaya Tamang after years

In an old interview with Radio Sargam, the actor said, “We didn't want to glorify ourselves and moreover, we didn't want to put the girls in danger, especially with the mafia involved in this matter.”

In an interview with Radio Sargam, Shetty also recounted a remarkable encounter with Charimaya Tamang. He was surprised to learn that she was one of the survivors of the rescue mission. “She told me how she started her own organisation for sex trafficking survivors and how she became known worldwide. It was really a special moment for me,” Shetty said.

Suniel Shetty on the rescue operation

In another conversation with Bollywood Hungama, Suniel Shetty refused to take credit for the rescue operation, saying that many people worked diligently to make it happen. “We didn’t really think about the cost of the flights. The cost wasn’t that important. It was the effort that mattered. My mother-in-law started the NGO Save The Children and it is still active today. We are all involved in it. The inspiration comes from her. She is the one who decided to take the risk of saving the girls and thus end up in the bad graces of the mafia,” he said.

Suniel worked passionately alongside his mother-in-law, the Mumbai Police and Naresh Goyal's Jet Airways to ensure the safe return of the women. He noted that the rescued women probably remembered his name “because I am an actor”, but added: “Lekin mehnat bahut saare logon ki thi. Paiso se zyada humne jigar dikhaya ki in bachchiyon ki madat karenge aur itni bade mafia se takkar lenge.” (But many people worked hard. More than money, we all showed courage to help these women and get into the wrong hands of the mafia).