Page 21 - English Tehelka Issue 1&2

CoverStory trafficking

n a summer night in 2017, when a fam- 4 am to do the household chores, all by myself. They
ily in Chhatarpur, New Delhi went to had a washing machine, despite that they would
sleep after dinner, 14-year-old Mukti ask me to hand wash piles of clothes. They made me
(name changed) discreetly slipped out sweep and mop the entire big house. From 4 in the
O of the house and ran. She was wearing morning to dusk, I was constantly forced to work.”
worn out clothes and slippers, her hair was messy Mukti also said that her ‘employers’ would give
and she didn’t have a single rupee in her pocket. her just tea and two biscuits in the morning, lunch
The dimly-lit street was empty and she fastened her at 3 pm that included two chapatis and some sabji,
pace as mixed feelings of fear of being caught and and a small meal at night, though often there was
anxiety about her future ran down her spine. no dinner for her.
As she reached the main road, drenched in After finally finding a safe place to live, Mukti
sweat and tears, Mukti saw an autorickshaw and wants to join school and continue playing her
requested its driver to drop her to the New Delhi favourite sport, football, as early as possible. Back in
Railway Station from where she planned to catch her village before the incident happened, she and
a train back to her native place in Assam. The rail- her friends would practice football everyday guid-
way station was the only place familiar to her in the ed by a coach for free. Now, Mukti will be receiving
city because that is where she had ended up with education and rehabilitation at the children’s home
her ‘agent’. Upon being dropped at the station, she run by ACRD till she desires. She hopes for a better
caught a policeman’s attention who took her to a future for her two younger sisters as well.
children’s home after she narrated to him her har-
rowing story.
In March 2017, Mukti was trafficked from Baksa
district in Assam by a placement agent, a man from Due to lack of education
her neighbouring village. Early one morning when
her mother left for work in a tea garden, the man, and awareness, parents
unknown to her, coaxed her to leave with him
immediately saying her mother had given him per- readily give away
mission to take her to Delhi for work as a domestic
help. Upon reaching New Delhi Railway Station, she their children when
was handed over to two men named Rajiv and Arun
who took her to their ‘office’. traffickers pretend to
There, she was confined to a small dark hall full
of other trafficked girls. There was only one tiny
window, too small to allow sufficient light or air offer free education or
inside. She felt helpless and trapped like the other
young girls as none of them knew their fate. What lucrative jobs
was most shocking for Mukti was that during the photos: dasarath deka
night, the ‘agents’ would come to their room and
force themselves on some girls. in this area argue that the drop might not reflect the minor girls — Bandani Nag and Bilu — went simul-
When Mukti narrated her ordeal to Tehelka, ground reality. taneously missing from their village Dekadong in
it had been only two days since she had returned traffickiNg “The numbers show only cases that have been the state’s Baksa district in 2017. While it was later
to her home state. She was residing at a children’s reported. But, as seen in many instances, most of ascertained that an agent name Dasharat, a resi-
home run by the Assam Centre for Rural Develop- sceNario iN assam the cases go unreported either due to ignorance dent of Dekadong village itself, was responsible for
ment (ACRD). or threats faced by parents and guardians,” said trafficking both of them to Delhi, no action could be
“The agents were bad people. I was so scared Trafficking is flourishing in the rural and remote an activist who did not want to be named. Further, taken against them as the families of the missing
to see how the agents would break into our room heartlands of Assam on an unprecedented scale. Tehelka’s investigation revealed some shocking children never filed a case against the accused.
during the night and do bad things with some girls Minor children, especially girls, are targeted by traf- details about a laissez-faire situation for criminals When asked by this correspondent why they
who were a little older than me. There were three fickers and taken to metro cities to be engaged as involved in human trafficking in the state. did not report the matter to the police, a confused
more girls from different villages of Baksa, all domestic helps or in prostitution. and ignorant Birsa, brother-in-law of Bandani Nag,
tricked by such agents, just like me.” As per the National Crime Records Bureau No missiNg said, “Didi, police complaint? Nobody told us that
She continued, “On the third day, late in the (NCRB) annual report titled ‘Crime in India, 2015’, we should complain to the police. We people do
night, the agents took me to a Punjabi family in 1,494 cases of trafficking were reported from As- complaiNts not have a single clue about whom to contact or
Chattarpur. Uncle and aunty used to beat me, hit sam in 2015, the highest in the country. This number complain when such a situation arises.”
me on my head, pull my hair and verbally abuse me. took a sharp dip in 2016, falling as low as 91 in terms Perhaps the biggest advantage that traffickers have It is indeed shocking that in Baksa hundreds of
I would weep for hours. They would wake me up at of cases reported. However, activist groups engaged is that most cases go unreported. For instance, two such trafficking cases go unreported and, hence,

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