In Jharkhand’s Simdega, tales of many domestic helps beaten and bruised in Delhi-NCR

The teenager’s life was “saved” after a neighbour spotted bloodstains on her clothes and alerted the police. (Express photo)

However, not everyone is as “lucky” as her. A 15-year-old from another village in the district who was trafficked to the national capital nearly a year ago died by suicide on May 31 at a businessman’s house in New Delhi’s Rajouri Garden. Earlier this month, a local court took cognizance of the charge sheet, filed by the Delhi Police, which stated that the girl was allegedly forced to work without wages for months and not allowed to return home despite repeated pleas. In March, the family of a 16-year-old who had been missing for three years received a call from Simdega police station, informing them that she had been found. Back home pregnant, the 16-year-old says she was trafficked to Delhi and allegedly raped by a man from her village.

Despite its proximity to Rourkela, the industrial capital of Odisha, locals say jobs are hard to come by in Simdega district, with most people either migrating to other states for work or choosing to farm their ancestral land. While there is no official tally on trafficking figures, sub inspector Pankaj Kumar, who is incharge of the Simdega Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU), said the unit registered nearly 11-12 cases of trafficking annually over the past three years. “In many instances, it is parents who send their children away. So they don’t lodge a complaint,” he adds.

In the village of the 16-year-old

In the 16-year-old’s village, one of her brothers says, “I don’t know why she left, but we never lodged a police complaint. We did not really know what to do.”

SI Kumar told The Indian Express, “She was missing for over three years, but her father never told us anything. After we heard about it from our sources, we received a complaint from the father. We located her in Delhi in March and brought her back.”

He said the investigation so far has revealed that the girl told her father she was lured by a man from the village to Chhattisgarh, from where she was taken to Delhi. She was raped in Delhi but failed to realise that she was pregnant till her bump became visible. She spent some time in the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) home in the district before returning home.

Her father said, “The family of the accused approached us for a compromise, but we turned them away. My daughter has suffered enough.”

In the village of the 15-year-old

Squatting in the uneven village square, the residents of another village gathered one evening to hear Simdega MLA, Congress leader Bhushan Bara caution them against middlemen. As Bara listed government schemes on food and education for the tribal community, the 15-year-old’s father sat on the makeshift “stage” behind him.

Speaking to The Indian Express later, the father said she went “missing in February without any warning” but he did not file a missing complaint. He said a 21-year-old woman from the village had gone missing along with his daughter. “The 21-year-old contacted her mother. I kept hoping that my daughter would call us one day… I looked all over for her, but did not have the courage to go to the police station.”

Despite its proximity to Rourkela, the industrial capital of Odisha, locals say jobs are hard to come by in Simdega district. (Express Photo)

The village barely has 35 houses, most of them kutcha, connected via a dirt road. The villagers, who are mostly engaged in agriculture, claim that “such types of incidents (the minor’s suicide)” have never happened in the past.

The locals say the Delhi Police also came to the village to investigate the girl’s background. The Delhi Police charge sheet names four persons — placement agency owner Raju Choudhary, ‘middleman’ Lakda, agency employee Satish Kumar Choudhary and employer Pooja Kumar. While Kumar has been booked for unlawful labour and wrongful confinement, the others have been charged with trafficking and abetment to suicide. According to the charge sheet, Raju and Lakda are still on the run.

SI Ramesh Singh, Kurdeg Police Station incharge, said, “Neither the girl’s family, nor the villagers informed us that she was missing.”

An elected panchayat member of ward number 1 said, “My 21-year-old told me on May 31 that the ‘middleman’ who had taken them to Delhi had informed her that the girl was dead. I informed the girl’s father.”

The locals spent the next day planning to bring the girl’s body home, while the father borrowed some money. He and two others left for Delhi by train. An NGO in Delhi gave the trio a place to stay and helped them bury the girl in a Christian burial ground.

Though the father wanted to take the girl home, the ward member said, “Paisa hi nahi tha hum log ke paas. Wapis kaise laate? (We did not have any money. How could we have brought her body back to the village). The parish priest in Jharkhand wrote a letter permitting her burial in Delhi.”

Yet to come to terms with his daughter’s death, the father said, “It was a proper burial. We could not ensure her dignity during the last days of her life, but we wanted to do so after her death.”

In the village of the 17-year-old

The 17-year-old plays with her cousins at her uncle’s house in the neighbouring village, a far cry from the posh Gurugram.

The teenager said, “Now I spend my days helping my mother cook and wash clothes. At times, these chores take me back to my time in Gurugram. Once reality kicks in, I take a deep breath and reassure myself that I am back home.”

The Simdega Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) has registered nearly 11-12 cases of trafficking annually over the past three years. (Express photo)

“I haven’t been able to speak about my ordeal with my family members but I speak to my sister, who is in Delhi. She says she is treated well by her employers. The money she sends home helps us make ends meet.”

While the 17-year-old hasn’t given any thought to her future, she says her dreams are now limited to Jharkhand. “I had left the village in the hope of earning enough money to pay for the treatment my brother needs to correct his gait. I may find some work in my state but I don’t ever want to go back to Delhi.”