Although the intensity of the third wave of Covid is declining with the fall in daily cases, challenges for the vulnerable from the outbreak of the pandemic continue to persist.

The extensive lockdown in the country not only affected the employment of individuals but showcased the debilitating state of affairs across the country.

Despite the sincere efforts of the government to tackle the spread of the Pandemic and substantial loss faced by the poor, re-migration from small towns and villages to big cities remains to be a major source to earn livelihood for many people in India. The routes to migration contain innumerable stories of untoward incidents that frequently surface from every corner of the country.

The story revealed by the Caritas India partner DEHAT after the successful rescue of a woman throws light on the desperate need for livelihood for survivability – forcing the vulnerable to throw caution to the wind. This is a story of a woman who was lured with marriage by the perpetrators and ended up in a traumatic scenario. Five traffickers were arrested and the woman was rescued as she was in the process of sale to a customer. This breakthrough was achieved by the DEHAT team after investigating the details for a month.

Back partners staff from the AHT programme received information from a local informer that a man is planning to get married after paying a huge amount in return. After this tipoff, the team followed on the decided plan, where the staff of DEHAT approached the perpetrator who was a woman engaged in selling young girls. He approached the woman disguised as a customer demanding a girl for himself.

The deal was finalized for Rs 70,000 and the woman perpetrator agreed to bring the girl on the decided date and location.

On the day of the deal, the DEHAT team met the woman on a school campus in a nearby town. After some back and forth the police and SSB in hiding came out and arrested the woman. She revealed the names of all the five gang members who were later arrested and booked under section 370 of the IPC.

Incidents like these are very common near the Indo-Nepal border at Rupaidiha for the past four years. Efforts from NGO DEHAT, local police and Sashastra Seema Bal have helped in saving thousands of lives from the menace of trafficking.

The whole incident was widely covered by the local and national media. Baharaich Senior Superintendent of Police Keshav Choudhary shared the details of the operation with the media and credited SSB for their efforts in busting the racket. The woman rescued from the racket was a 23-year-old widow who was handed over to her family members.

Hassan Firoz, program coordinator under Swaraksha AHT Program for DEHAT revealed that the traffickers were marrying widows and destitute women from neighbouring Nepal in India. They also smuggle and sell them in metros as well as in Gulf countries on the pretext of marriage.

This rescue operation carried out during the pandemic has not only saved a girl’s life but alerted the traffickers operating at the Indo-Nepal border to give up such diabolical means of a business which ends up ruining the lives of innocent human beings for sake of greed.