Former Bollywood actress Somy Ali requests PM Modi to uproot child trafficking in the country!
Former Bollywood actress Somy Ali, president and founder of No More Tears and 3-time US Presidential Award recipient, has shared her thoughts on the girl child trafficking that continues to happen in the country. She revealed that through her nonprofit she has witnessed many girls being sent across borders.
She said, “India’s daughters are not for sale. I am writing not as a former actress. Not as a public figure. Not as someone who once belonged to an industry of lights and lenses. I am writing as a woman who has held six-year-old girls who should have been in school but instead were being sold into human sex trafficking here in the US. I am writing as someone who has rescued nine-year-olds who could not even spell their own names but had already learned the language of fear.”
“This is not a headline for me. This is my lived reality. Through my nonprofit, No More Tears, we have rescued children and women from trafficking networks that stretch across borders from Bangladesh to India, from villages in Punjab to cities like Mumbai and Chennai, and from poverty into exploitation. The routes change. The vulnerability does not,” she added.
She shared that a six-year-old does not understand sex trafficking and added, “She understands pain and violence. She understands hunger. She understands abandonment. I have sat with children who were told they were being taken to Disneyland. I have seen forged documents. I have heard stories of brokers who promise parents one thousand dollars for their daughters to be adopted and who were delivered for something else entirely.”
She continued that this is organized crime, and said, “It preys on poverty, on illiteracy, on gender inequality, and on the normalization of silence. India has made progress. Laws exist. Task forces exist. Police officers and NGOs work tirelessly. But the scale of this problem requires more than isolated interventions. It requires a coordinated, technology-driven, zero-tolerance national mission.”
Somy then makes a request to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and shares that she believes in the slogan “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao,” but the reality is far from this. She said, “I have held the daughters who were never protected long enough to be educated. We cannot allow a nation that is becoming a global digital powerhouse to remain vulnerable to trafficking networks that exploit our weakest citizens.”
She requested, “Cross Border Intelligence Integration—Sex trafficking from Bangladesh and India requires seamless intelligence coordination. We need real-time data sharing between border states and central agencies. Human traffickers are using digital tools. Our response must be faster and smarter. Technology for Child Identification—Biometric and digital ID systems must be leveraged not just for banking or welfare but for missing children tracking. Every rescued child should immediately enter a unified national database accessible to vetted law enforcement units across states.”
“Fast Track Courts for Child Trafficking—Justice delayed is justice denied. Survivors relive trauma every time a case drags on. Dedicated fast-track courts specifically for child trafficking cases would send a powerful deterrent message. Survivor Rehabilitation as a National Priority – Rescue is only the beginning. Rehabilitation requires psychological care, education, safe housing, and long-term mentorship. Without it, many children are retrafficked. We must fund rehabilitation with the same urgency as rescue operations,” she added.
She further wrote, “Accountability for Complicity—Trafficking networks do not survive without protection, whether through corruption, intimidation, or indifference. There must be strict consequences for officials who enable or ignore these crimes.”
Somy makes it clear that her words are not meant to criticize, but she is only sharing what she has seen in the eyes of children who still believe adults will save them. She said, “From Mumbai, I met a child who thought abuse was her obligation. From Punjab, I met a girl who believed she was being punished by God. From Chennai, I held a child who had memorized escape routes but did not know her multiplication tables. I know of families who sold daughters out of desperation, not cruelty.”
She explained that poverty is a trafficker’s greatest ally and said, “This is not a women’s issue. This is not a regional issue. This is a national security issue, a human rights issue, and a moral issue. India cannot lead the world in innovation while its daughters disappear into darkness. Prime Minister Modi, you have the mandate and the platform to make child trafficking eradication a defining legacy issue.”
“A nationwide public-private task force integrating technology companies, NGOs, border control, the judiciary, and survivor-led organizations could change the trajectory of thousands of lives. I am ready to help. I am ready to bring the data, the field experience, and the survivor testimonies. This is not about politics. This is about protection. A nine-year-old should be learning the alphabet, not survival. A nine-year-old should be choosing crayons, not calculating how to stay alive. India’s daughters are not commodities. They are not currency. They are not collateral damage of poverty. They are the future. And the future deserves more than slogans. It deserves action,” she ended.
By Keerti Kadam