(This is part four of the The Quint’ series on trafficking of minors from Jharkhand to big cities. Read part one here, part two here, and part three here. Please support us by becoming a Quint member and help us bring you the stories that matter.)
The teenager doesn’t know the name of her village.
She doesn’t know her home address or a phone number.
She doesn’t even remember which year she landed in Delhi to work as a domestic help for Rs 3,000 a month.
On 18 February, she took the train from Delhi to Jharkhand's Ranchi, along with four other minor girls, who had been trafficked to the Capital. A 17-hour train ride later, the girls – along with members of Jharkhand Police’s Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) – reached a shelter home in Simdega district, along with The Quint.
On day four, the teenager mumbled, “I think my district is called Raigarh.” While it brought some relief to the counsellers at the shelter home and to Rishi Kant of NGO Shakti Vahini, it posed a fresh problem in front of them.
Raigarh is in Chhattisgarh, not Jharkhand.
“We will now make efforts to reunite her with her family in Chhattisgarh,” reassured Rishi Kant. Raigarh district is roughly 230 km away from Simdega.
The Quint spent a few hours at the shelter home along with the four minors and the counsellers who spoke about steps that will be taken to ensure that the girls don’t end up in exploitative jobs again.
Employed as Domestic Help in a Delhi House at Age 10
The teen who remembered she’s from Raigarh said she’s 14 years old but shelter home authorities believe she is no older than 12.
“Before being brought to Jharkhand, she had spent 1.5 years at a shelter home for girls in Delhi,” said the Simdega shelter home superintendent. And before the Delhi shelter home, the girl said she was employed as a domestic help in a house in Delhi. She must have been 10 years old at the time.
A shelter home in Simdega district.
(Photo: Ashna Butani)
She told The Quint, “I don’t know where the house is. I was hired to clean the house for Rs 3,000 a month… But I did not like it, so I ran away within a few days.”
She recalled that after she ran away, she went to a restaurant nearby as she was hungry. “But I had no money, so an uncle paid for my food. Soon, the police came and took me to a shelter home.”
Activist Rishi Kant from NGO Shakti Vahini explained the root of the problem.
He said, “When young girls are trafficked, the placement agents tell them to maintain that they are from Jharkhand. They say this for their own convenience. Eventually, the girl will forget her village and it becomes impossible to rescue her."
He added, “They have similar features and the language is similar too. So, somewhere in the process of rescue, the police infer that they are from Jharkhand. This has happened before as well. Efforts will be made to take her to Chhattisgarh now.”
With no address or phone number handy, NGO and shelter home officials are staring at a tough task. All that the child remembers is that she lived with her parents and an elder sister and that there was a bazaar near their house.
'Broke Down When I Met my Parents at the Shelter Home After a Year': Minor'
The shelter home has an office with a sewing machine and computers, which are used for skill training. The cupboards are brimming with files for each girl, and there is a garden outside meant for playing.
Minutes before the girl remembered her district’s name, the superintendent said, “We have been counselling the girls. We are trying to ensure that they are sent back safely to their homes and are enrolled in school once they leave the shelter home.”
A drawing book given to the girls by an NGO
(Photo: Ashna Butani)
When The Quint met the girls at the office in the shelter home, they had just finished their game of Ludo for the day. The minor girl, who was beaten up for months, allegedly by her employers in Gurugram, too has been staying at the shelter home till her treatment is completed at a hospital nearby.
Since the girls arrived here, they have been counselled and the authorities have tried to ascertain who their family members are. “We put them in touch with their parents,” said the superintendent.
On 21 February, one of the four minor girls broke down when her parents came to meet her at the shelter home. “They stayed for an hour. I told them I want to go home... But I was also a bit scared that they will scold me for leaving Jharkhand. But they did not. They were happy that I came back.”
'Won't Return to City if I Get a Job in Village': Minor
Another 16-year-old said that when she met her parents at the shelter home on Tuesday for the first time in a year, they seemed happy. “I feel like things are changing. It was good to see my parents after so long... Maybe this time, things will get better," she said.
The 16-year-old was trafficked twice. The first time, she was taken to Orissa, where she claimed her employers treated her well. The second time, she was taken to Delhi where she got a job in Janakpuri. She ran away and was taken to a shelter home.
At the shelter home on Wednesday, the girls are asked what their plans are now. The 16-year-old said, “I will not go back to work again. Now, I want to study.”
She pointed at her friend, giggled, and said, “She is planning to go back to work...”
The other minor girl, aged 17, said, “I might go back... But if I get a job here, I will stay.”
From School to Skill Training: Shelter Home Chalks Out Plan for the Girls
Authorities at the shelter home explained to the girls that working in big cities can be exploitative. “We told them that there is no point going out of the city… You need to be aware of your rights first. We explained the benefits of going to school,” said the superintendent.
In the room where the girls sat, there was a computer section with around four computers, and a sewing machine. Girls who are slightly older are often given skill training too.
The superintendent explained, “The girls will go home only once they are enrolled in schools in the district. The process to enroll them is on. We can teach them stitching but the problem is that since they are very young and many had left school at an early age, they might not be able to go ahead with it without knowing numbers and having basic numeric abilities.”
Some of the girls have already learned art and crafts. The 16-year-old said, “In the shelter home in Delhi, I had started making bracelets, necklaces, and earrings but I left them all behind.”
The bracelet that the younger girl gave to her friend.
(Photo: Ashna Butani)
She wears a blue and pink beaded bracelet. When asked if she made it herself, she said that it was gifted to her by the Raigarh teenager the day they met on the Ranchi-bound train.
The 14-year-old said, “I know how to make some jewellery but did not carry all of it with me. I had just made a friend that day, so I wanted her to have it.”
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