Unreported World: Land of Missing Children

Channel 4's critically acclaimed foreign affairs series returns for its ninth run. In the first programme of the five-part series, Sam Kiley travels to India to investigate the trafficking of children for the booming sex trade in Calcutta and Bombay. Kiley's journey starts in Siliguri in the north east of India. It's famed for its tea estates and Himalayan views, but Kiley finds evidence of another trade, in local girls, who are lured into prostitution with promises of jobs in the big cities, while others are simply kidnapped. He follows the trade route to Calcutta, where he is surprised to find himself up against the sex workers union, Durba, which, despite having won financial backing from the British government and Melinda Gates, leaves Kiley wondering whose interests it represents. In Bombay, with the help of The Rescue Foundation, he accompanies the police as they raid a brothel to free young girls. The girls are discovered squashed into hiding holes and concealed in the attic without sufficient air to breathe.