Trafficker apprehended by own victim
January 24, 2018
In November 2017 and at only 16 years old, Damini* received an award for exceptional bravery from the government of West Bengal.
When Damini* was barely 13-years-old, she had been kidnapped, drugged and trafficked hundreds of miles away from home. She was sold to a brothel and forced to see 20 men a day. Three painful years later she was rescued and Justice and Care was asked by the State to look after the rehabilitation and prosecution aspects of her case. However, despite all efforts to trace them, the people who had trafficked her had been absconding.
After returning home Damini would walk through villages scanning faces looking for the person who had destroyed her childhood.
A few months later when she was at a train station with her mother, she spotted the lady who had trafficked her. Sensing Damini’s eyes on her, the lady in question tried to escape but Damini quickly caught up with her and held her singlehandedly. In the scuffle that ensued, a crowd quickly gathered and the police were called. Despite the long wait and challenging processes, our lawyers assisted a brave Damini in filing a case against her trafficker. The offender was booked under the relevant sections of the law and sent to jail.
“The thought that if she was set free she could traffic many other girls encouraged me to keep going,”
As a result of her fierce determination and courage, the trafficker is no longer able to snare young girls and sell them into sexual slavery.
Justice and Care continues to support her through counselling, tuition classes and skill-based training – in her case – karate lessons, which she enjoys and excels in. She tells us that she wants to become a police officer when she grows up and fight human trafficking by going after people who ruin the lives of young girls.
