child trafficking: the true story

I was 15 years old when I was trafficked to Bombay. My parents could not afford my schooling so I looked after cattle, worked in the field and helped my mother in household work.

One day, a man started talking to me while I was grazing animals in the field. Another man joined us. Then they closed my eyes with a handkerchief and I fainted. When I recovered, I found myself in a train. From the railway station, I was taken to a hotel by rickshaw where I was introduced to a woman. She introduced herself as the “manager.”

When I asked them why they had brought me there, they said they were only trying to help me to find a job. The lady then took me somewhere by a jeep. It was at that moment that I realized that the place where I was being taken was a brothel and that the men had sold me there.

News spread that a ‘new girl’ had arrived. The men offered to take me to hotels, but I denied. I prayed to the brothel owner to let me go, but she said that she owned me; in order to go back I had to pay back the amount she had paid the traffickers.

The work started in the morning until late at night. More clients used to come during daytime and I had to serve from 20 to 25 customers per day. I felt awful and always used to cry. I was beaten if I denied customers and once I was raped by a group of men. I wanted to die rather than live such a miserable life.

Escape from the brothel seemed impossible until I met a man who said that he stayed in Hetauda. I sent a letter and a photo to my family with him. When he reached home with these things my father demanded to him to bring me back immediately. On the kind man’s return he narrated the story to us, and also to the brothel-owner. I don’t know what happened, but suddenly the brothel owner gave me Rs 8,000 (approximately US $100) my pay for four hard years in the brothel—and permitted me to go home. I was almost 20 years old.

My return home was difficult. Although my mother accepted me, my father was still a drunkard and beat my mother and scolded me. He made life even more difficult for all of us. After some time, I started getting sick. I felt very weak. I had a fever and was sore. The local Plan social worker came to visit me and told me to go to a doctor right away. So I went for a medical checkup with Plan’s assistance. I found out I was HIV positive.

Trafficked returnees are blamed for spreading HIV/AIDS. I felt so bad and helpless. Plan provided me a financial assistance of Rs 15,000 (approximately US $192) to start a grocery shop in the village for my livelihood.

I can still do light work. My future plan is to establish one small industry of spice grinding, packing and labeling. Plan with its collaborating partner HIMRIGHT (Himalayan Human Rights Monitor) is going to support this project.

Finally, I want to say to all Nepal girls, be careful, be watchful. You do not want my life.

Planusa.org