Sita's story

In 2019, Sita* was rescued from a brothel in India, as part of a rescue operation conducted by the Indian police in coordination with Shakti Samuha. Today, she is 23 years old and works with as a cook in one of Shakti Samuha's shelter homes.

Before she was trafficked, Sita lived in a rural area in Sindhupalchowk district of Nepal with her family. They worked in agriculture and carpentry. Due to financial problems at home, she dropped out of school in 2013 when she was 9 years old and became a child labourer in Kathmandu.

Her family lost their jobs because of the 2015 Nepal earthquake left her family without work, pushing them further into poverty. During this time, 17-year-old Sita was approached by a lady who offered her a job in India. Sita initially turned the offer down but later accepted it as her family was in dire need. The lady gave Sita some food in Kathmandu which caused her to lose consciousness. When Sita woke up, she was on a train to India. The lady told her that she would be employed as a sex worker in India.

“I felt numb and couldn’t believe the situation I was in. We reached a brothel in India where they treated me very well in the beginning with good food and vitamins. After a few days, I was forced to start the work. I tried resisting but that did not work for very long. I was only 18 years old. I cannot describe the pain I was in both physically and mentally. I questioned my existence in this world and I hated myself as it was my mistake for having trusted that lady.” 

After the rescue operation with the Indian police, Shakti Samuha placed Sita in its shelter home and provided her with life skills training and counselling sessions to help her deal with the trauma. As she was originally from Sindhupalchowk district, Shakti Samuha coordinated with the ward office in her community. The ward president and the CLAMP team completed the Home Assessment Report and identified the risks around Sita's home to support her in reintegrating with her community.

Based on her skills, Sita was offered a job as a cook in Shakti Samuha’s shelter home and today she is able to financially support her family. She is enjoying her job and wants to be a social worker in future to help survivors like herself. When she comes across cases like her own in the shelter home she is forced to relive her traumatic past but uses meditation and painting to get help her work through it. Sita has also filed a legal case against the perpetrators and one of them has been imprisoned.