From hell to 'home'

 Left alone, she fell prey to traffickers active on the route. After a gruelling fight in a brothel, she escaped to her freedom. Excerpts of an interview:

Did you try to contact home?

I tried, but I had no money with me; I approached other girls who advised me to earn it by joining the sex trade. I began howling and shouting. The brothel owner came and beat me up. She warned that men would come to have sex and I ought to oblige them; otherwise, I would be tied up in the room.

How did you plan your escape?

I felt very scared initially, but regained courage as another older girl, probably from Nepal, promised to lend some money to escape. She had overheard the owner saying to an agent that I was a tough nut and it would be risky to keep me there. They hatched a plan to dispatch me to a bigger brothel.

I vowed I would never submit. The girl organised Rs 300 and made me promise I would return it once I was free. At night, I feigned illness and she took me to the  doctor's chamber where I hid. Early morning, I fled and took a train to Sealdah station (in Kolkata) and narrated my tale to the RPF jawans. Their `boss'  got in touch with this home and sent me here with a lady escort. I am grateful to him and the Nepali girl for my freedom.

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Slavery, alive and kicking

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