Ranchi: Two young women from Ranchi, married off as minors and pushed into flesh trade in Delhi and Haryana by their “demon husbands,” have struggled and fought their way home in hope of justice.
Tabassum, 20, now the mother of a toddler son, and Farida, 23, bringing up a 4-year-old daughter and a 2-year-old son, told the Jharkhand State Commission for Women on August 25 that they had been sold eight to nine times by the men who had promised them a happy married life.
Commission chairperson Mahua Maji conceded that this was the “first-of-its-kind case” before them and they would need adequate help from the police top brass because the matter was interstate.
“Tabassum and Farida were made to tie the knot five to six years ago when they were both minors. Thereafter, their husbands and other men subjected them to unspeakable torture. The cases once again scream the need for awareness against child marriages in Jharkhand. I will speak to the DGP and see if the cases can be taken up with police in Delhi and Haryana,” Maji told The Telegraph.
Tabassum, a native of Doranda, a suburb of Ranchi, said she was married to a man called Ahad in Delhi five years ago.
“My husband was at least 10 years older to me. From Delhi, he took me to Muzaffarnagar (Uttar Pradesh), where his mother, father, a younger brother and seven sisters worked at a brick kiln. I was introduced to the same labor, but I had no qualms then,” she added.
Her trouble began when Ahad started sending her to other men. “Every time I refused, he stripped me and branded me with a hot iron rod. Sometimes, he poured acid on me; there were other ways of torture that I shudder to even speak of. The other men slept with me and returned me to Ahad. I must have been sold at least eight-nine times,” she recalled.
Twenty days ago, Tabassum managed to escape with her son. “I came home (to Ranchi) and went to police. They asked me to lodge a complaint with the commission,” she added.
The ordeal of Farida, another Doranda native, was no different. However she escaped two years ago.
“I am not literate and did not know how to seek justice so long. I heard about the commission from Tabassum and decided to come with her,” Farida said.
Pointing to telltale wounds on her body, Farida continued, “Look what that demon Anis Ali did to me when I refused to sleep with other men. I was married to him six years ago. He said he was from Simdega, but was actually from Haryana. I was cheated. He took me to Jawana village (Haryana). There were many more girls working for him like bonded labour – all deceive in the name of marriage. After suffering for days, one night I ran away with my two children, my son an infant then. I want the government to punish Anis and rescue the other girls.”
Since neither Tabassum nor Farida went to school, they could not give a written complaint to the commission, which instead audio-recorded their horror stories. “Many minors from Jharkhand are sent to Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh villages on the pretext of marriage. We need to campaign against the sham,” Maji said.