Auctioned for commodification, ridden in incarceration, bidden for deportation:
– A never-ending saga?
The journey to justice is long, tedious, and fraught with numerous obstacles.
In August of 2022, a “Ghotok” brought a marriage proposal for Manila, a minor from Bangladesh and convinced her parents instantly to perform a marriage on the same day. “Ghotok” is a Bengali word meaning matchmaker. Manila’s husband Jasim who was a notorious trafficker known for brazenly trafficking children and women brought Manila to India and sold her to Saidul, another trafficker and vanished. For over a year the buyer forced Manila and scores of other children and women into prostitution until she and two other victims were rescued in August 2023.
Locating and rescuing them required great effort as we were in an uncharted territory. I vividly remember this time, our investigators and myself walking through alleyways in Ahmedabad city during the scorching heat of May 2023 while searching for another 11-year-old Bangladeshi victim who was also forced into prostitution in this city. It took us 23 months to find her.
Just like I mentioned in the last newsletter, our team was once again understaffed when we first heard about Manila held in captivity. An investigator, who always remained undercover in his investigative career of over a decade, when approached, gladly accepted to lead a rescue operation for the first time. Manila was finally rescued and after the rescue operation, pleaded with our team to search for a woman who was also held captive and forced into prostitution in the same building. During this extended operation, we found two other victims. However, Manila’s buyer managed to escape. This sounds filmic, but it was true and shocking.
Initially everything went well in the police station. A crime was registered with the complaint of Manila. The police placed Manila in a children’s home and the two other victims, also Bangladeshi nationals, in a state-run shelter for women. Shortly after this, without producing any of the victims before the Magistrate and following any of its directives; the victims were transferred to a detention facility established exclusively for illegal immigrants and governed by the Special Operations Group of Gujarat state police. Manila, Mora and Prachi were forced to remain in inhumane conditions for nearly 25 months without basic needs met and without any hope of returning home. Even after pleading with authorities for months, they refused to transfer them to a shelter for care and protection, or allowed them to speak with their families back home. They even prohibited our team from providing any kind of services to which they were rightful recipients. This compelled us to escalate the matter to several top authorities; however, nobody and nothing moved. What a gross form of human rights violation and nothing short of actual incarceration!
Things began to change slowly as we persevered in faith and in corresponding actions. The three victims lived in a state of distress. Our team chose to continue fighting for them and brought some small sense of solace and comfort whenever they were granted permission to meet Manila, Mora and Prachi.
We petitioned the court to pass a repatriation order for them; however, the court refused to take any action before recording their deposition.
More than a year ago, Manila stood up to testify in the courtroom and shared her unfathomable and heart-wrenching story before the court. Mora and Prachi tried the same; however, their crushed spirits failed to encapsulate their ordeal for the last year. The fleeting moments of joy came through the trip to court as they got a chance to breathe fresh air outside for a few hours which rejuvenated their spirits.
Last month, as we were reviewing our work for the previous six months, news about their journey back to Bangladesh filled us with joy; however, after a few hours, we were told they were subjected to deportation, a formal process employed to send back criminals to their home country after their sentence was over.
During her captivity in India, Manali was forced to undergo kidney surgery. We suspect that one of her kidneys was removed and sold. She is now back with her family in Bangladesh and actively pursuing a case against the traffickers who put a price tag on her and auctioned her like she was a commodity.
Would you join us in fighting against those who have caused injustice to these three victims and thousands of others alike, and end this sinister saga?
Ashwin Rathod Associate National Director, Freedom Firm
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