A year ago, 13-year-old Deepa* was sent to Delhi after her father arranged for her to work as a domestic servant. A neighbor had promised Deepa that she would work only six hours each day as an assistant servant in a loving home and would enjoy healthy food and accommodation. Because life was difficult, Deepa’s father accepted the advanced payment for his daughter’s services and agreed to send his child to Delhi. To assure her father that everything would be fine, the neighbor provided the contact number of the home where his young daughter would be working.
After several months, her father wondered why his daughter was not contacting him so he tried the number provided, with no success. A year later, he came across an NGO working to educate tribal children in his hometown and informed the NGO about what had happened to Deepa. The NGO contacted a JVI Justice Hub partner in Delhi, who worked with the police to obtain a partial address for Deepa’s employer. The local police were able to trace Deepa’s location, but the Justice Hub partner was unable to obtain a rescue order.
Thereafter, the Justice Hub team contacted another police station and was able to secure support for a rescue, but they learned from the employer that Deepa had been moved to another location. Finally, after coordinating with local officials in that new location, the Justice Hub team was able to rescue Deepa. Her year-long ordeal of working day and night with meager food, lack of rest, and verbal and physical abuse was behind her. The process of recovery has begun, and through the collaborative efforts of JVI’s Justice Hub and the public justice system, Deepa has been freed from the clutches of modern-day slavery.
*Name changed to protect identity
