40 Nepali women rescued from traffickers in Delhi

KATHMANDU: A total of 40 Nepali women have been rescued from captivity in New Delhi, India, after being lured with false promises of lucrative foreign employment opportunities in Gulf countries.

The victims were held in hotels in the Mahipalpur area of the Indian capital by human traffickers who intended to smuggle them to countries such as the UAE, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia.

According to Nepal Police’s Human Trafficking Investigation Bureau (HTIB), the women were en route to the Gulf via India, which traffickers are now using as a transit point due to tighter restrictions on tourist visas in Nepal.

HTIB spokesperson Narendra Kunwar confirmed that the victims were freed from four different hotels in coordination with Indian authorities.

The rescue operation was carried out in collaboration with the Delhi-based Nepali Embassy, Indian police, and the NGO KIN India.

Director of KIN India, Navin Joshi, said they acted upon credible information that several Nepali women had been taken hostage and that contact with their traffickers had been lost. “Once the information was verified, we launched a joint rescue mission with the embassy and local police,” Joshi said. “The process of repatriating the rescued women to Nepal is already underway.”

Many of the victims reported that they had been misled by traffickers who repeatedly delayed their departures, saying, “You will fly today or tomorrow,” for several weeks. Trapped in hotel rooms and prohibited from leaving, most women had run out of money. Shockingly, three of them didn’t even have their passports, which traffickers had promised to arrange in India before sending them to Kuwait.

Investigations revealed that the women had been transported via road to Delhi, with false assurances that their documentation would be handled locally.

All rescued women are scheduled to be flown back to Kathmandu today, marking a critical intervention in a growing trend of human trafficking through India.