It has been six months since Kurmila Nepali (name changed) has been under the care of Maiti Nepal, an organisation working in the field of prevention of girl trafficking, including rescue and rehabilitation of survivors of trafficking. A victim of human trafficking herself, Nepali was compelled to seek refuge at Maiti Nepal after being shunned by her own family. Ironically enough, she had fallen victim to human traffickers while looking for her family. Living in Ullasnagar, India with her parents who worked as migrant workers, she was left at her parent’s ancestral home in Malakheti VDC, Kailali about a year ago. However, Nepali had run out of that house after having had enough of the ill-treatment meted out to her every day by her grandmother and aunt.

Nepali had fallen victim to a trafficker at Paliya, India while setting out to find her family, but was fortunately rescued by Maiti Nepal. “Her family members were wary about taking her back when we contacted them after rescuing her,” said programme coordinator Shiva Charan Chaudhary of the Maiti Nepal, Dhangadhi chapter. “We had to send her to our temporary rehabilitation centre after no one from her family came to her aide for six months.” Similar is the fate of 16-year-old Pramila (name changed) of Nigali VDC, Kailali. Unlike Nepali, Pramila was rescued from Bihar, India in August last year following a missing complaint filed by her mother. “We had rescued her acting on a complaint registered by her mother but the family were hesitant to take her back after she was rescued, compelling us to send her to the rehabilitation centre,” Chaudhary said. The organisation has also sent Rupa Chaudhary, 15, of Dhangadhi -4, who was rescued from the border Kailali shares with India, to the rehabilitation centre. All of the three victims were sent to the centre on Monday. “I want to go home but I have no choice other than to take refuge at the centre as my family no longer cares for me or wants me back,” Nepali lamented.

Almost every other rescued victim being sent to the centre said that they were forced to take shelter at Maiti Nepal after their families turned their backs on them. The organisation had sent two female victims of trafficking to the centre in Itahari and handed over one child victim to another non-governmental organisation, Child Workers in Nepal, earlier. While it is a grave problem and a reason for concern, the tendency is tantamount to adding insult to injury to the already traumatised victims, making their recovery as well as integration process harder as well as longer. Meanwhile, Chaudhary said that most of the families rejected the victims of human trafficking fearing social stigma. “We do all we can towards the best interest of the victims and try to reintegrate them into society,” Chaudhary said.