Sattaru Umapathi

A Policeman in Andhra Pradesh, Mr. Sattaru Umapathi has rescued victims, prosecuted traffickers, and worked extensively with local NGOs.

After training in Britain, Mr. Umapathi went to the Police Academy of Andhra Pradesh, where he organized a training workshop for over 5,000 other police officers in anti-human trafficking. Recognizing the need for relevant personnel to be educated on these issues, he has consistently made training others a priority, and gathered together a conference of judges from all around India to train them on how to treat victims of trafficking in the court system. He diligently pursues rescue operations, vigorously prosecutes traffickers, and attempts to argue for stricter application of the laws against modern-day forms of slavery. He has implemented his own policy of providing an interim cash payment to rescued survivors in order to keep them from being immediately re-victimized. He has also engaged in rescues in other parts of the country, in partnership with other police departments who have recognized his expertise on this issue. From 2007 until 2010, approximately 2000 victims were rescued and 4,000 traffickers or other types of offenders were arrested. 200 of the rescued people were under the age of 18. He continues to work in the Indian Police Service, training other police professionals and continuing to combat modern-day slavery. In 2010, he was given a Trafficking in Persons Report Award in recognition of his efforts.

In the 2014 TIP Report, India was listed as a Tier 2 country. It is a source, destination, and transit country. Although there is some sex trafficking, bonded labor and forced labor constitute India’s greatest problem. Fueled by historic and cultural class divides, including the mistreatment of the scheduled castes, ninety percent of trafficking occurs within India’s borders.