Margherita: With tears in her eyes, Champa Munda (48) has been waiting for the last six months, hoping that her 14-year-old daughter will return and their family will be reunited once again like before.
Champa Munda is a tea plucker, and every day she has to go for tea plucking to manage daily expenses. Champa lives in a small hut with her family at 2 No. Maulung village in Ledo, Tinsukia district of Assam. The 2 No. Maulung village is 8 km from Ledo Bazar and 20 km from Margherita. The village is facing the threat of being wiped out by the Buri Dehing River due to erosion. Champa’s hut is just 7 meters away from the Buri Dehing River. Most people have left the village and migrated to other places due to floods and erosion.
On October 20, 2024, Champa’s 14-year-old daughter was taken to Marwa village in Namsai, Arunachal Pradesh, for household work by one Lohit Longkho. The minor girl was taken to Purnima Mulung’s house for household work at Marwa village.
On October 31, 2024, the minor girl went missing from Purnima’s house, and since then, she has not been traceable.
“My daughter has been missing for six months and nobody is bothered. She went to Marwa village for household work at Purnima Mulung’s house, and since then she has not returned. On November 1, 2024, Purnima informed us through a phone call that my daughter was missing. We have filed an FIR at Ledo police outpost, but till date, nothing has happened,” said Champa Munda.
Also Read: Porous borders, poor economy: Why human trafficking is rising in Tripura
She said, “We are poor people, nobody cares for us. We don’t know whether my daughter is alive or dead or if she was kidnapped. Nobody helps us. When we asked the police about the case, they told us they have no information because the case is under Arunachal Pradesh police. We are helpless and don’t know what to do.”
Champa Munda’s husband, Atwa Munda (55), covered 230 km on a bicycle to go to Marwa village in search of his daughter, but after a long search, he didn’t find her.
“I went to the police and searched the area where she went missing but could not find any trace of her. She was taken to Arunachal Pradesh for household work, and after 10 days, she was missing. How is that possible? We suspect that she might have been kidnapped by anti-social elements,” Atwa Munda said.
“The human trafficking network has been active in tea garden areas, and most of the time they lure girls from poor families, convincing them they will easily get jobs outside Assam. They are taken to undisclosed locations and sold. Most of them are forced into prostitution,” said a member of a non-profit that deals with human-trafficking cases.
Kamal Krishna Tanti, another villager, said, “One Purnima Mulung, who earlier lived in 2 No. Maulung village in Ledo, had taken their girl to Arunachal Pradesh for household work, and the girl went missing from her house. Champa and Atwa are poor people; they somehow manage their daily necessities. When Purnima wanted to take their minor girl with her, they were not ready at first, but Purnima told them that she would stay with her.”
“Six months have passed, but their minor girl hasn’t returned, and there is no information about her. She went missing from Marwa village of Namsai. The father of the girl rode a bicycle to Marwa village to find his daughter, but after searching and staying in the village for a day, he returned. Both the father and mother of the girl remain depressed,” said Tanti.
Shyam Upadhaya, a social worker, said, “Human trafficking has been rampant in tea garden areas, but no figures are available due to FIRs not being properly filed. The linkmen of human trafficking are active in garden areas and target poor people by luring them with job offers. There is no awareness in tea garden areas, and that is the reason the linkmen take advantage.”
Also Read: Human trafficking alive in Arunachal, but most don’t call it that: Why?
“High dropout rates are behind the rising cases of child trafficking and child marriage of girls in tea garden areas. Child trafficking has been going on in the tea garden areas of Assam. If the dropout rate can be minimised in these areas, then child trafficking cases will come down,” Upadhyay said.
Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha (ACMS) vice-president Nabin Chandra Keot said, “Workers from Assam migrate to other states due to work because the wages in Assam are low. But in most cases, they are used as bonded labourers. The workers are illiterate and don’t know about their rights, and as a result, face exploitation.”
“The girls from tea garden areas who go to other states for work sometimes get trapped in human-trafficking rings and are sexually exploited. Most of the time, they don’t report the abuse due to societal issues,” Keot said.
Jyotish Phukan, Officer-in-Charge of Ledo police outpost, said, “The case was registered at Namsai police station. We don’t have any information regarding the case. The victim’s family has filed an FIR at Ledo police outpost.”
This article has been published as part of the Impulse Model Press Lab.
Also Read: Rubina escaped trafficking in Arunachal, but lost a daughter to traffickers