Pari Saikia

Anubha Bhonsle

Editor

Karan Dhiman

Photographs

Priyanka Borar

Illustration

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Komal has
a train to catch. She’s going home to Rangiya Junction, Assam. 



It was a
place she had vowed she would never return to, not even to visit her mentally
disabled mother.



In Delhi,
staying and working in the brothels of GB Road were preferable to going back to
a home where she had been sexually abused. She says, the family to whom she is
being returned includes her 17-year-old cousin who allegedly raped her several
times when she was just 10 years old. “I don’t like to see the face of my
[cousin] brother. I despise him,” Komal says. He often beat her and threatened
to kill her mother if she tried to stop him. Once, he hit her with something
sharp, leaving a stubborn mark on her forehead. 



“Hekarone mur ghor jabo monn nai. Moi
kiman bar koisu hihotok [This
is the reason why I don’t want to go home. I told them several times too],”
says Komal referring to her interactions with the police. Despite this, the
police put her on a 35-hour train journey to Assam, without any arrangements,
not even a SIM card, to ensure she would reach safely, or be protected from
further violence when she was home.



What Komal really needed were support services
specific to the needs of minor and young adults who have been trafficked.

Komal (name changed) remembers she was
climbing down a metal step ladder from her matchbox-sized room of roughly 4x6
square feet when the two police officers showed up at the brothel she was
working and living in, earlier this year. These rooms are not visible to
passersby; only the metal ladders are a giveaway that sex work is carried out
here in
Delhi’s infamous redlight district of Shradhanand Marg, colloquially known as
GB Road.



She told
them she was 22. “Kom o hobo
parein..bhalke najanu moi [It could be less. I don’t know clearly],” Komal says in her native language,
Assamese. She looks no older than 17, perhaps 18. Convinced that she was a
minor, that day the police ‘rescued’ her from the brothel. 



The didis (brothel owners) did not stop the
officers, since they were unsure about Komal’s real age as well. They had
instructed her to say she was older than 20, if asked, and that she was doing
sex work “apni marzi se [of her
choice]”. 



That
statement rang true in Komal’s mind. She felt she had chosen to move to Delhi
and do commercial sex work to be able to live independently. But her ‘choice’
followed a series of traumatic experiences, including being raped and
trafficked as a minor, with no support systems to help her cope, recover, and
find alternative paths.



When she told the police, she was at the
brothel of her own volition, they were not convinced. She even showed them a
copy of her birth certificate on her phone and asked them to verify that she
was 22 years old. But they dismissed her plea. That was the only piece of
identification she owned, and it amounted to little. Komal was ‘rescued’ and
taken to a police station and counselled for what felt like two hours to her.
She was then sent to a government shelter for minors where she stayed for 18
days. Komal was told she would be reintegrated with her family per due process,
as it was believed that she was a minor. 



At some point during her stay at the shelter,
the police recovered her belongings from the brothel, including her clothes,
two phones, and earnings of 20,000 rupees handed over by the didis.

“Authorities
must ensure that minors are not re-trafficked. Priority must be given to the
preference of the minor victims, whether they wish to join back the family or
stay back at the shelter home. It must also be a priority to adequately counsel
victims’ families before handing over custody,” says Utkarsh Singh, a
Delhi-based Human Rights lawyer. He believes the Child Welfare Committee
(CWC)—an autonomous institution formed under the <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/resource/the-juvenile-justice-care-and-protection-of-children-act-2015/">Juvenile Justice Act, 2015</a>—must ensure that rehabilitation
procedures in cases like Komal’s are in accordance with the Act.

Komal’s village is in Baksa district of
Assam’s Bodoland Territorial Region.
This western region of the state, popularly known BTR, is an autonomous
division and a proposed state, formed under the 6th Schedule of Indian
Constitution. 



Many in
Komal’s village had seen videos of her being raped, filmed and circulated by
her cousin. “My mama [maternal uncle
and cousin’s father] would blame me for everything. He said I had lured his
son. He would beat me mercilessly in front of my mother, even when she would
weep and beg him to stop,” Komal recounts. With no help or end in sight,
10-year-old Komal would often resort to self-harm. “I would slice my hand with
a stainless-steel blade to relieve myself of the intense anger and pain I was
experiencing. I wanted to end my life.”



Among
those who had seen the videos was Bikash bhaiya
(brother), a friend of the cousin. He approached her with what he called a
‘solution’. 



“He told
me to come with him to Siliguri [a nearby city] and join prostitution. [He
said] I would be earning money at least and could take care of my mother too.
He said it is better than staying in the village and getting raped, and my reputation
slandered,” says Komal. 



Within a
few days, Bikash coerced the young child to run away with him. A 10-year-old
Komal found herself trafficked to the brothels of Khalpara area in West
Bengal’s Siliguri city. Under Section 370 of the
<a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/resource/the-indian-penal-code/">Indian Penal Code</a> 1860,
human trafficking is defined as the unlawful act of using threats, force,
coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power, or inducement to exploit
another person for the sole purpose of prostitution, child labour, bonded
labour, forced labour, sexual exploitation, among others. Section 5 of the <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/resource/the-immoral-traffic-prevention-act-1956/">Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act (ITPA), 1956</a> penalises those who procure, induce, or
take person(s) for the sake of prostitution purposes. For crimes against a
“person&#39;s will or a child, the maximum sentence can extend to fourteen years or
life.” According to the ITPA, “child” means a person who has not attained the
age of 16.

Despite Bikash’s clear role in her being
trafficked, with no formal complaint against him, it is unlikely he will ever
face the full consequences of these laws.

Almost
three years after she was taken to Siliguri, Komal was rescued from Khalpara by
the police during a raid. She remembers being produced before a CWC court, and
made to stay in a shelter for minors for about 15 days. She was then sent back
home in an Assam-bound train unaccompanied—just as she would be, once more, in
2024.



Due process for trafficked children like
Komal was not followed both times, in 2015 and in 2024.



The
government’s Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) on investigating crimes of
trafficking for ‘<a href="https://www.unodc.org/documents/human-trafficking/India_Training_material/SOP_on_Investigation_of_Crimes_of_Trafficking_for_Commercial.pdf">Commercial Sexual
Exploitation</a>’
and <a href="https://www.unodc.org/pdf/india/SOP_Investigation_Forced_Labour.pdf">‘Forced Labour’</a> require the Investigative Officer (IO)
to obtain a birth certificate, school certificate, ration card or any other
government document to determine the age of the victim. If unavailable or
inconclusive, the victim can be sent for “age determination test on the orders
of the Court”. Also, the Section 34 (2) of
the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/resource/the-protection-of-children-from-sexual-offences-act-2012/">(POCSO), 2012</a>, requires the Special Court to
determine the real age of the child and “record in writing its reasons for such
determination.” 



Komal’s
birth certificate was dismissed by the police officers who ‘rescued’ her in
Delhi. She was never taken for her <a href="https://wcd.nic.in/sites/default/files/Draft%20proposed%20guidelines%20of%20Ujjawala%20Scheme.pdf">statutory medical
examination Medico-Legal Case (MLC)</a>, nor was she produced before the DM or
CWC. No attempts were made to do a <a href="https://www.unodc.org/pdf/india/SOP_Investigation_Forced_Labour.pdf">bone-ossification
test</a> to
determine her real age. 



If the
consensus among authorities is that the victim should be <a href="https://www.unodc.org/pdf/india/SOP_Investigation_Forced_Labour.pdf">rehabilitated or
reintegrated</a>
with their families, it is the responsibility of the Investigating Officer (IO)
or the CWC to ensure that “home verification is done appropriately” beforehand.
Authorities must identify and record “acceptance and opportunities for the
victim to reintegrate into society if the victim is sent back home”. 



Under
no circumstances should the victims return to the same workplace or get exposed
to “situations of further risk.” Being sent back to Assam where she had been
raped and trafficked, was in clear violation of this. No home verification was
done; no one tried to find out more about Komal’s family or contact an NGO to
support her so-called rehabilitation as a minor victim of sex trafficking.

Further,
according to the government’s <a href="https://womenandchildren.assam.gov.in/sites/default/files/Ujjawala%20New%20Scheme.pdf">Ujjawala Scheme</a>, victims of trafficking and sexual
exploitation must be provided with “ immediate and long-term rehabilitation
services and basic amenities/needs” including counselling, guidance and
vocational training. Child counsellor Annie Theodore, who has experience in
dealing with sex trafficking cases, also underlined the importance of
psychosocial support in victims’ lives. “The biggest challenge is to continue
counselling victims even after they are reintegrated back into society, or
handed over to their guardians,” she says.



After her
‘rescue’ from Delhi’s brothels, Komal was counselled for two hours before a
rushed process to rehabilitate her was initiated. Counsellor Annie asks, “how
can someone who has suffered years of trauma recover in just two to three
months of counselling sessions, or a couple of days in certain cases?” She adds
that the system is harsh in expecting the victims to heal, recover and open up
about their ordeal, mainly because they (agencies) want it. 



Many
experts believe that state agencies <a href="https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:AP:052fc6d2-cbeb-4008-8672-f2d060f9c172">aggravate the
fragile mental health</a>
of rescued victims, pushing them to either fall prey to trafficking again, or
return to commercial sex work. “The constant questioning, and apathy makes the
victims feel they are being forced to relive the trauma. Earlier, the
traffickers, brothel owners, pimps, and other perpetrators, caused them
harassment, but now the government agencies are doing the same,” Annie
concludes.

The first time she was rescued, Komal
couldn’t have been older than 13. The second time, she was 22, maybe; ‘rescued’
and made to leave Delhi against her wishes. In May 2024, she boarded the train
to Assam—but did she reach safely? Will she live with her mother, or will she
find herself in a different red-light area? The story is part of a nationwide reporting project focusing on social, institutional and structural barriers to care for survivors of Sexual and Gender-Based violence (SGBV) in India. It is part of a Doctors Without Borders India supported initiative.The names of the survivors and family members have been changed to protect their identity.

'I don't want to go home'

’میں گھر واپس نہیں جانا چاہتی‘

‘నాకు ఇంటికి వెళ్ళాలని లేదు’

‘நான் வீட்டுக்கு செல்ல விரும்பவில்லை’

'ਮੈਂ ਘਰ ਮੁੜਨਾ ਨਹੀਂ ਚਾਹੁੰਦੀ'

‘ମୁଁ ଘରକୁ ଯିବା ଲାଗି ଚାହୁଁନାହିଁ’

‘मला घरी जायचं नाहीये’

‘എനിക്ക് വീട്ടിൽ പോകണ്ട’

'ನನಗೆ ಮನೆಗೆ ಹೋಗಲು ಇಷ್ಟವಿಲ್ಲ'

'મારે ઘેર નથી જવું'

‘वो घर ले तो ये कोठा बने’

'एह जिनगी में त आपन घरे नइखी जाए के चाहत'

‘আমি বাড়ি ফিরতে চাই না’

'मैं घर नहीं जाना चाहती'

‘মই ঘৰলৈ উভতিব নিবিচাৰো’

Delhi

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'I don't want to go home'

Sexual and gender-based violence is often inflicted by relatives and known people. That's what happened to Komal, a young girl from Assam who finally 'escaped' to the brothels of Delhi. Rescued for the second time in her life, the police are sending her back home where her alleged rapist lives

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