Success Stories
Rescue to Rehabilitation of Savitra after 6 years of entrapment and exploitation
All stories do not have happy endings, but this one has one. Catalyst India has been in the forefront of rescuing girls who are forcefully sold or duped into flesh trade in the dingy by lanes of Delhi.
This is a story of a 39-year-old Savitri (name changed), a sex-trafficking survivor from Nepal. She was trafficked in 2016. Her ‘friend’ in Nepal had promised to find a job for her in Delhi 6 years ago, but she realised she was duped, when she landed in a brothel at GB road in Delhi.
“The man said I can secure a job as a cleaner for a salary of 10,000 rupees per month in Kathmandu. The next morning, they made me board a bus. So, I asked him where he was taking me, and he kept saying we were about to arrive in a few minutes until we finally landed in Delhi. Then he left me with Manju didi in GB Road,” rues Savitri.
She narrates the appalling conditions at GB Road, which forced her to seek outside help. She narrates that she was not allowed to talk to her friends or family members, and whatever little she earned went to Manju, the in-charge of the brothel.
“I used to ask for the money I had earned in the last many years so that I could send it back to my family in Nepal, but Manju would always refuse. Imagine my plight. I have not spoken with my two sons and family members for six years in a row now. Manju would keep my hard-earned money and my Nepali citizenship documents with her so that I don’t escape,” says Savitri.
Savitri told us that the sex workers at the brothels are often deprived of free food donated by NGOs and other agencies. During the pandemic, when men stopped frequenting the brothels, Savitri, like other women, were in dire need for money and some had to even look to the streets and beg for survival.
“They (brothel owners) used to take all our ration and we would be left with nothing. Not just that, we would be charged for food. We had to pay 100 rupees for a meal that would consist of lentils, rice and sabzi and 200 rupees for non-vegetarian food. We didn’t have access to drinking water either. They would charge us 30 to 50 rupees for a 500 ml bottle of water,” explains Savitri.
After enduring years of physical and sexual exploitation at the hands of pimps, brothel owners and their clients, Savitri planned to escape and contacted her friend Daisy, who had earlier escaped the same situation.
She sent an SOS video to her friend Daisy (name changed), who had earlier escaped from the same brother, seeking her help to escape. In the video Savitri said she had gone without water and food for two days and this made Daisy determined to help her to escape, come hell or high water.
Daisy pleaded for help in a frenzied call to Nirmala, a senior social worker at Catalyst India. With Nirmala Walter’s help Savitri was rescued within 24 hours.
During the start of the pandemic in 2020, Catalyst India received around 20 complaints about minor girls being missing from Nepal.
Most of the girls rescued from various brothels of India between 2020-21, had been freshly trafficked from Nepal to India. The girls are mostly aged between 14-17 who had left their homes during Covid-19 lockdown with unknown men, looking for sources of livelihood without their parents’ consent.
Savitri was secretly sold her own husband to the trafficker for 1,60,000 Nepalese rupees. She helped the authorities arrest both her husband and the trafficker.
Savitri is currently being rehabilitated at Shakti Samuha NGO in Nepal and travels back to India just for court hearings, when required.
“I am learning things; sometimes I make tea here and cook food. It feels good to be here. You won’t find a sense of belonging anywhere except your own home and your homeland,” says Savitri.
This is one story that has a happy ending, but there are many out there who are crying for help. We will continue to provide social justice for these innocent women and girls.
Catalyst India, Delhi recovers two missing girls from Pune Brothel
Catalyst India Charitable Trust has been working relentlessly days and nights to make this rescue operation possible. Since the time 12 girls made their escape bid on 2nd May, 2021 from Critical Care Centre, Catalyst has left no stone unturned to trace these 10 girls. There were 10 girls who had managed to escape, while the other two girls got injured in their bid to escape. Keeping the humanitarian approach intact, Catalyst got these two girls’ necessary treatment and surgery done. Eventually these girls were repatriated to Nepal as per CWC orders.
Ms Nirmala Senior Social worker with Catalyst, was spearheading the operation along with AHTU in rescuing these 10 girls.
She provided Delhi Police AHTU with few mobile numbers of the escaped girls. These mobile numbers gave an impetus to the investigation and provided them with concrete leads in the case.
She even would work in conjunction with AHTU on a regular basis to keep a tap on the progress of the case. She gave valuable insights to AHTU about the possible places that the girls might have visited. She also shared about the relationships that these girls had in the past. Any such information about the places or relationships can help in tracing the escaped girls. Ms Nirmala also spent countless hours and nights on social media platforms of these girls which included Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram. Any possible information that she gathered from their social media accounts; she would make it a point to share it with AHTU. Even before the rescue happened; Catalyst and AHTU met several times to plan and strategize the operation
AHTU formed a team with Catalyst and was always ready for any suggestions or possible plans that could have been undertaken.
Without further ado, Catalyst and AHTU headed to Pune immediately. Ms. Nirmala in conjunction with AHTU Delhi and with the co-operation of Pune Police officials raided the brothel.
Catalyst had its own sources of Intelligence, which proved to be instrumental in the success of this rescue mission. Catalyst’s network of Intelligence played a big role in authenticating real time information received pertaining to the case.
Ms Nirmala would provide real time information to AHTU about the possible places where these girls can be. She volunteered to be a part of the rescue operation conducted jointly by Delhi Police AHTU and Pune Police. Catalyst received unconditional support from AHTU and their team members. AHTU along with Catalyst made an infallible plan to rescue the girls. AHTU and Catalyst brainstormed and discussed their strategies pertaining to the operation.
Ms Nirmala was a part of recceing the place along with police, before they could conduct the raid. She went to raid the brothel along with AHTU, Pune Police and they were successful in rescuing two girls named Sushila and Anisha.
Under the sterling leadership of ACP Shri Surendra Gulia, a team was formed for the operation. This team comprised of SI Veena Chadda, Head Constable Praveen and Constable Sweety from AHTU. Catalyst India would like to extend their heartfelt gratitude to AHTU for their unceasing and perpetual support. Without AHTU this operation wouldn’t have been possible. Catalyst and AHTU developed a feeling of Esprit De Corps during this operation.
Catalyst would continue working as a team with AHTU to rescue the remaining girls and the quest shall continue.