Inspired By True Events, A Girl’s Fight Against All Odds To Free Her Sister From A Human Trafficking Ring

Tens of thousands of girls and women go missing in India every year. Majority of these are forced into prostitution and are even trafficked to western countries. India is a source, destination and a transit point for this heinous crime. The issue of human trafficking is not an intellectual or a political debate. This trade of human misery is the third-highest source of profit for organised crime, after arms and drugs trafficking.

According to data released by National Crime Records Bureau in 2015, trafficking of minor girls surged 14 times in the last decade. The same data shows that in 76% of all trafficking cases, girls and women are the main targets. Lack of awareness, lack of education, poverty, gender-based discrimination are few of the main reasons apart from the greed and callousness of the traffickers behind this untold misery.

In 2017, data released by the Indian government showed that close to 20,000 women and children were trafficked in 2016, as compared to 15,000 in 2015. Authorities also believe that the actual number could be much higher as many victims are trafficked to other countries and in many cases, victims do not come forward because of fear or a lack of awareness or simply because there is no one looking out for them.

Merely understanding the trauma of trafficked individuals is in itself a herculean task. Lured with promises of a good job and a decent life, the victims are thrown into hell, with no choice, no say and often literally kept under lock and key. Even the few who are lucky enough to be rescued, face the challenging problem of reintegration into society as a free individual. The victims are abused and exploited at every stage and are denied even the basic human needs in order to teach them ‘obedience.’ They are even asked to ‘repay their debt’ i.e. the recruitment and transportation cost which the traffickers incurred before they can be let go.

This modern slavery industry is fuelled by the cheap profits made at the cost of body, mind and spirit of countless vulnerable girls and women. This despicable criminal activity has spread like an infection over the whole world. Trafficking in India is widely prevalent and yet the grim reality keeps hidden under the facade. Most social case studies make a similar point that awareness in any form or over any media is one of the most important tools we have to fight this social evil.

This social reality is being tastefully portrayed in a hard-hitting upcoming movie, Love Sonia, produced by the Academy Award-nominated producer of Life Of Pi. In the story inspired by true events, a 17-year-old girl risks her life to rescue her sister from an international human trafficking ring. Her courage #AgainstAllOdds will keep the audience spell-bound. The strong ensemble cast of Rajkummar Rao, Richa Chaddha, Manoj Bajpayee and Anupam Kher do justice to the difficult task of highlighting human trafficking in Tabrez Noorani’s directorial debut.