THIS 14 YEARS OLD GIRL WAS SOLD THRICE; FINALLY SHE DECIDED TO END HER PLIGHT BY HERSELF

Human trafficking is on rise in India despite great efforts to save children and females from the clutches of such heinous crime. Women are treated like objects and traded every day. A young girl travelled to Mumbai from Rajasthan after her marriage to 35-year-old Lachharam Kriparam Chaudhary. They settled in Nallasopara but their wedlock was nothing like the usual. She was only 13 years old when she entered into her marriage 10 months ago.

For this 13 year old from Rajasthan, life was like a Cinderella story. However, there was no prince charming there to save her from misery. There was only a tyrannical husband. Rani was born in a small district of Rajasthan. Her mother passed away when she was very young. Her father soon remarried and she then had to deal with a step-mother who hated her and two step-sisters who abhorred her. She was often neglected by the family. Unfortunately, her father too soon passed away leaving her with her step-family. The family now had no one to help them earn their living.

Selling women for paltry amounts is extremely common in the poorer regions of society. Girls are often treated as a burden and are sold off to brothels or to men for cash and also, to make matters easier. Her step mother Shanti first sold the girl for Rs. 50,000 and then for Rs. 5.80 lakh.  After selling the girl twice, she decided to get rid of her forever. Enter, 35 year old Lachharam Kriparam Chaudhary, a Mumbai based trader. He ‘bought’ her, all of 13 years old and decided to ‘marry’ her, all for the fat amount of Rs 6.3 lakhs. But then, child marriage is illegal. So what could they do then?

The girl’s step mother got a fake affidavit made declaring Rani to be 20 years old, thus, well over the marriageable age. She even got it notarized. After the “wedding” the couple moved to Nalasopara in Mumbai where Rani’s husband opened a grocery shop. Then, Rani’s life shattered as the constant string of physical and sexual abuse commenced. She was given absolutely no freedom and had to pander to her husband’s every whim and fancy.

She was not allowed to leave her room and kept locked in there all day. She continued to bear the atrocities for 10 months post which, she heard her husband striking a ‘deal’ for Rs 15 lakhs and realised, she was once again about to be sold.

But by now, the little girl had had enough. She did not want to be caught in this constant web and knew that she would ultimately end up on the streets or worse if this continued. She one day, when her husband was out of the house, she somehow made her way out and ran to the nearby police station where she narrated all the happenings and the atrocities committed on her.

The police acted quickly and nabbed her husband who revealed everything. It was common practice in their state to buy and marry minor girls and then sell them off to others. It was a chain. The police are now looking to nab the step parents of her. The girl has been sent to clinic for tests where her age has been determined to be 14 years.