lost and alone - the case study of a girl rescued by saathi


name of the girl: [name changed] shivamma
home town: mysore

Shivamma is 16. She was found, alone and frightened, by the police on Mumbai Central Station. They knew that if they left
her there she would be abducted. She could only speak Kannada, the local dialect of the state of Karnataka, so it was difficult
to communicate with her. They took her to Saathi, where they knew she would be taken care of.

Shivamma was only thirteen when was married to Mr Ankaya. He had psychological difficulties, and could not look after
her properly. However, Shivamma’s parents had taken the opportunity to marry her as she has 3 younger sisters and one younger brother, and the family was struggling to cope. Shivvamma’s father farms a smallholding and her mother is a
housewife.

Once ‘married’ Shivamma worked as a coolie (day labourer) at the bus stand, where she earned 50 rupees a day to keep
herself and her husband, and later her daughter, who is now three. This is the equivalent of UK£0.60 or US$1.15 or Euros
0.88, and is very little even by Indian levels of pay. Whenever she had no work at her village she used to go to nearby
villages or cities to work in order to enable her family to survive.

One day, returning home from working away, Shivamma met a woman at the bus stand at a nearby village called
Najanagud. The woman introduced herself and offered Shivamma work, which she accepted. Shivamma was given food,
but it was drugged and she became unconscious. She awoke hundreds of miles away in Mumbai, where she was sold in the
red-light area of Kamathipura. After she had been there a few days, she planned her escape from the brothel house. She pretended she had a stomach ache and began to cry, so the brothel keeper took her to the doctor. She took the opportunity
to escape, and made her way to the station where she was found by the police.

During counselling at Saathi, Shivamma said she wanted to go back to her parents as soon as she could. This was made
possible by Saathi's partner organisation Sathi-Raichur, who successfully traced them, after which the counsellors from
Saathi took Shivamma home. Her father had searched all over the village for her after she had disappeared, and was
delighted to have her home again, safe. He promised that in the future he would take care of Shivamma, and she would
not have to return to her ‘husband’.

the process of repatriation
Saathi told us: "The process of repatriation starts with counselling, making the girl comfortable and trying to get as much information about her as possible. The next step is to try and trace her family address. In tracing the address we sometimes
need the help of a local NGO, or if the girl gives us some clue, we can use that. Contacting the family, verifying the
information, and understanding the reasons why the girl left home takes lot of discussion with the family. Later a group
decision is held along with the girl to find out whether she wants to go back or not. A counselling session is held with the
family and girl together.”

(However if the girl cannot be repatriated she has to be found a safe environment - sometimes the only option is the state orphanages which leave a lot to be desired - see the film Salaam Bombay.)