Ahmednagar 24 November
Snehalaya's Muktivahini has rescued a girl brought from Bangladesh for prostitution. There is still a long way before we reach rehabilitation and repartition. But it has created a lot of awareness about trafficking among Police Department, Media, Judiciary and Civil Society in the Ahmednagar region.
“The Traffickers threatened to sell my kidneys when I refused to entertain the customers,” said Haseena (name changed), a trafficked victim to whom Snehalaya rescued from Flesh Trade on 25th October 2010. Snehalaya has contacted Haseena's family members who were shocked to know what happened to her daughter after marriage , but expressed relief that their daughter is in safe custody of Snehalaya.
Haseena got married at the age of 14 years only. She was forced by her husband and others traffickers to enter India on the pretext of finding a job in Kolkatta. They traffickers paid Rs.500to authorities of Border Security Force (B.S.F.) for crossing the border between Bangladesh & India. After a short stay at Kolkata, they sold her to the flesh market of Mumbai. Some thugs and brothel keeper beat up the couple and separated Haseena from her husband.
Sharda Gaikwad, a brothel keeper from Ahmednagar purchased Haseena for Rs 25,000 from Mumbai. Sharda took her to Parbhani for 3 days where Haseena was raped by more than 3 dozen people in private lodge. Once when she opposed and refused the demand of customers, Sharda cracked a bottles of Beer on her head which caused the serious injuries.
Then Sharda brought Haseena to Ahmednagar district on October 6 after a lot of physical & mental harassment at Parbhani. Sharda stopped her Max Jeep vehicle (MH-23 C-952) at Hotel Tiranga near Newasa Phata, 52 km away from Ahmednagar. Some sensible local youth's saw Haseena crying in a closed and locked vehicle. They tried to ask about the reason but she was not able to speak in Marathi. Haseena can speak a Bengali language only. Hence she could not convey her story and inhuman pains.
They got a doubt and acted immediately. They first informed Snehalaya and then the local police station. Snehalaya’s team of Muktivahini quickly acted and rescued Haseena with the help of Police Inspector Mr.Kailas Gavde and his co-workers. Police arrested Sharda who allegedly trafficked Haseena from Mumbai to Ahmednagar. Other 2 traffickers ran away from the place of incidence due to the darkness.
Sharda has accepted the committed crime and has reveled the names of other 2 accused namely Mansur Inamdar (Parbhani) and Babu (surname not known) of Mumbai who worked with her in this act. Police hace registered a crime under sections 363, 366-B, 34, Section 3, 4, 7 of 1956 P.I.T.A. Act &; under section 376 of I.P.C. Police also registered a crime on Haseena also under Foreign Citizen Act 1946.
Haseena told about her suffering and humiliation to other bengali women sheltered in Shenalaya. We have assured her about security, safety and repatriation and have given professional counseling. Our volunteer Advocate Sandip Vandhekar is providing all require legal aid to her at no cost. The crime under Foreign Citizen Act 1946 registered for the first time in Ahmednagar district. Therefore there was lot of legal difficulties we faced.
She is not sure whether her husband was involved in her trafficking or not. She is taking interest in cooking and tailoring at Snehalaya. Many girls like Haseena are sold and used today in our country. Muktivahini expects active role of civil society in stopping domestic and international trafficking for flesh trade. Sandeep Kusalkar, Hanif Shaikh, Kundan Pathare, Dattatray Panchal, Anita Mokate, Palavi Raskar, Manish Kasar, Shahid Shaikh, Alim Pathan, Ambadas Chavan, Anil Gawade, Gaurav klae, Amol Temghare, Sarikha Makode, Mina Shinde have played a major role in changing Haseena's life
