We all have known Suniel Shetty, as the action hero of Bollywood. But did you know that the reel life hero turned into a real-life hero for 128 victims of sex-trafficking who safely found their way back home due to Shetty’s sympathetic gesture?
This incident took place 24 years ago in 1996. Suniel Shetty was never vocal about this incident it would have remained a secret until, Charimaya Tamang, one of the women rescued in the operation felt it compulsory to tell the world about Shetty’s hand in their rescue. “When the government was confused as to how to go about the operation, it was India’s film hero, Sunil Shetty who supported us,” she revealed in the Vice India documentary – The Forgotten Ones: Human Trafficking In Nepal.
On 5th February 1996, the Mumbai police conducted a raid in the Kamathipura’s red-light area and rescued 456 survivors of sex trafficking between the ages of 14 and 30. Of the 456 rescued women, 128 were from Nepal. Since most of these women didn’t have citizenship proof, and even the Nepal government had anxieties about taking them back.
After hearing this news Shetty took the situation into his own hands, and helped in arranging a flight, and paid for the tickets of all the 128 women to ensure that they reach home safely.
Shetty gives credits to Mumbai police and his mother-in-law, Vipula Kadri, founder of the ‘Save the Children’ NGO, for this operation. He made sure that no media gets to know about this rescue – a question which he replied to in a recent interview with Radio Sargam, “We didn’t want to glorify ourselves and moreover, we didn’t want to put the girls at risk, especially with the mafia involved in this case.”
After the incident resurfaced, many celebrities took to Twitter to congratulate the actor on the philanthropic act. Jay Bhanushali, who acted with him in the movie – Desi Kattey, tweeted:
Met @SunielVShetty anna so many times but never he had mentioned about this…this is what i call it class love you anna huge respect for you https://t.co/KN22jM1IGL
— Official JayBhanushaali (@imjaybhanushali) May 11, 2020
Shetty helped in changing the lives of 128 Nepali women. Today, they are able to rewrite their stories and build a bright future for themselves, reminding us that sometimes all it takes is an act of kindness to change a life.
