Roshni

Roshni’s story

Roshni is a mother of 6 children. She is the sole earner of the family as her husband has fallen unfit for work.  Roshni earned money by doing odd jobs in the village until one day “on 17th July I [Roshni] got a call from my friend saying that I should go and meet her immediately for a job. When I went to meet her, there were two women and a man waiting for me. They gave me some food, which was drugged and put me on a train. They forced me to call my brother and tell him that I got a job. Since I was not fully conscious, I could not understand what was happening, where I was going, why I was on a train. All my protests were in vain. Two more men joined us on the way. They took away all my belongings – my mobile phone, my gold jewellery, my slippers… We finally reached Delhi and I stayed at someone’s house for that night. The next day I was sold to a brothel.”

Recounting her days at the brothel, Roshni continues

“I was trapped and helpless. I was beaten with a ladle when I refused to work as a prostitute. I would often think of my children and cry and would again get beaten up for that.”

She has sustained several hand injuries that have left scars as reminders.

Events took a turn for the good when a local shopkeeper near the brothel sympathized with her plight. Soon Roshni was in touch with her brother, Nadim, through the shopkeeper’s mobile phone. She recalls “suddenly I saw some hope. I tried to keep my eyes and ears open and give my brother an idea of my whereabouts.”

Roshni is one of the few miraculous cases of escape, where luck and the vigilance of people came to her rescue. These cases serve as an urgent reminder for us, as a global community, to act in solidarity against the illicit crime of human sex trafficking. It will ensure the safety and protection of the millions of sufferers just like Roshni.