North Lakhimpur: There is an endless number of stories of the trafficking of women from Assam to other places in the name of marriages.
One latest story is that of Sangeeta (name changed), a 30-year-old woman from North Lakhimpur currently working as domestic help in different households for a living.
On the eve of International Day of Trafficking in Persons, Sangeeta spoke about her plight, how she was lured by a woman trafficker from Rajasthan in the name of marriage.
Sangeeta, a mother of a teen daughter, went to Rajasthan from North Lakhimpur with an elderly woman named Shusma Devi (60), who arranged her marriage with a person identified as Padma Ram (48) from Mori Bhikha Tehsil of Makrana district of Rajasthan in early 2020.
After court marriage on February 19, 2020, her husband started abusing her physically and also kept her locked inside his home with little food.
Sangeeta gradually realized that she was actually a victim of fake marriage. From her neighbours she got to know that her husband was already married several times.
Realizing the situation she wanted to come back to her native home in the Lakhimpur district. Sangeeta came to know that she was actually bought in rupees of eighty thousand from the elderly trafficker Sushma Devi and without returning the money she would not be able to come home.
Then Sangeeta contacted Sushma Devi and asked about being sold to Padma Ram. Sushma Devi returned the amount to Lakshmi’s husband and she was released from the clutches of her fake husband.
Now Lakhsmi returned to her rented home in North Lakhimpur and again started her life as domestic help.
Wasting nine months in her fake marriage she now gets news of her husband’s new marriage. With the help of the same trafficker Sushma Devi her husband again bought a woman at Rs One lakh from Lakhimpur who is now in Rajasthan in that same home where Sangeeta once lived as his wife.
Sangeeta alleged that this time the trafficked woman is from an immigrant Muslim community from Lakhimpur and also collects a photo of that trafficked woman.
She alleged that while asking Sushma Devi on phone about her loss of everything, the trafficker suggested she sell her kidney or part of her liver for money and she could help her by selling her organs.
Sangeeta says that she wants justice and compensation from her husband and urges help from authorities.