As real as breath

"I tried to escape but would be caught and punished. I think it was during the third year, a Nepali man came. In private I asked him, 'Dai, do you know Hetauda? Can you please take my letter to my...

Published13 June 2015

Reading Time 2 mins

Author Stories of Nepal

Location Nepal

"I tried to escape but would be caught and punished. I think it was during the third year, a Nepali man came. In private I asked him, 'Dai, do you know Hetauda? Can you please take my letter to my parents.' He agreed. I hardly knew how to write but I managed to write, 'Mother, I am in a lot of suffering, I am here in Bombay, Please come get me or I will die.' The man promised me he would deliver the letter to my village. I was hopeful that maybe I will be rescued. A few months passed but no one came. One day, the man came to my room and said, “I have paid the woman here, you can come with me. I am taking you home.” I almost fainted because I thought it was a dream. I came back home after 4 years. I was 14 when they sold me and when I returned I was 18. Even today, it feels like a very bad dream but I later found out that I was HIV positive and this was no dream. This is as real as my breath. People in the village found out about how I was sold in Bombay and they started avoiding me, and calling me hateful names so I left my village. Somehow, I got in touch with an organization that worked with woman like myself and with them I have been carrying awareness about human trafficking and HIV aids. I don't wan’t my Nepali sisters to have the same fate as mine. It’s a curse and I don't remember the last time I laughed."

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