SURKHET, Sept 14: A girl who was sold by one of her relatives to a brothel in India seven years ago has returned home. She was 13 years old, studying in grade seven when her aunt sold her to an Indian brothel, promising her a job at a paper factory.  

Nandakali, the victim’s maternal aunt and her two daughters namely- Tara and Mamata - had taken her to India. Her father died a long time ago and her siblings were small when she left. She had witnessed her mother’s struggle and was lured to the proposition made by the broker.

“I was told that I will be employed by a paper company and the earning would be good. I was attracted to the offer thinking of my mother’s struggle,” said the victim, who came in contact with the police on Thursday. “I was sent to the brothel the very next day we reached Delhi.”

According to her, Tara and Mamata had been running the brothel at G.B. Road, Delhi. She spent 15 months at the brothel she remembers as hell. “I was forced to serve 40 clients per day and I would be beaten and tortured if I refused,” she said, “15 months was like 15 years for me.” The girl, who had not had her periods when she left, got pregnant at the brothel. She was taken to a hospital as the brothel operator’s wife for abortion and her uterus was also removed surgically.

"After the uterus was removed, the doctor told me not to have sex for six months," she said. “But I was forced to engage in sex work after a month.” She informed the police that there were many Nepali girls in the brothel where she was kept.

One day, 15 months after she was taken to the brothel, she fell off the bed and was injured. Tara was taking her to the hospital on a scooter for treatment and she asked to stop the vehicle on the way. "I threatened to jump when she refused to stop the scooter despite repeated requests. Only then she stopped the scooter," she said. "I fled on the same occasion and reached Mumbai two days later."

"I was happy to escape from the hellish place of Delhi. When I reached Mumbai, my god mother did not allow me to come home (Nepal)," she said. "I saved up some money after working in a hospital and escaped from there as well.”

She does not know how to speak Nepali but understands the language. “I remember my brother's name. I knew my home address,” she added. She returned home on the day of ‘Teej’ after seven years. "My mother is alive. I was very happy to see her," she said.

The girl's mother struggled for seven years to find her daughter. She repeatedly visited the police station. She begged Nandakali to bring her daughter back. After six years of continuous struggle, the police registered a case of human trafficking on January 31 last year. "We had no evidence that the girl was sold so we hadn’t arrested anyone,” said DSP Ram Prasad Gharti Magar, spokesperson of the District Police Office, Surkhet, "We have started the investigation process by arresting a woman."

According to the police, the girl cannot speak the Nepali language. "The girl who was sold before she had her first menstruation has even had her uterus removed," he said. "As the incident is serious, we have started the investigation process accordingly."

Police stated that Mamata had initially reached the girl's house saying that she would be working in Delhi. The mother of the girl shared, "The brokers told me about the lucrative job offer but I had refused to send my daughter away.”

The next day, Mamata's mother returned home. She refused the offer, again. "When I went to work, they lied and took her away," said the girl's mother. Police have arrested Nandakali.

 
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