Sold, raped, trafficked: Abducted Delhi woman returns home after 10 years

New Delhi: It was an awkward reunion for 22-year-old Sana when she returned to her family in North-east Delhi, after remaining untraced for a decade. For after facing much— she was kidnapped, held captive, raped, married, forced to mother two kids, trafficked and made to work in a dance bar– she had to go through the painful moment of introducing herself to her family, who had given up every hope of finding her.

According to reports, Sana was just 12-year-old when, on her way to a relative’s place close by, she was forced into a car and drugged by a couple. On waking up, Sana found herself locked up with ten other girls her age.

“The couple kept her there for 15-20 days and then took her to a village in Gujarat where she was sold to a farmer,” Rubiya, Sana’s mother was quoted as saying.

Recounting the horror she had been through, Sana elaborated that she was forced to work in the farm during the day and was locked up in a small motor shed during the night, where the farmer’s son Balwant would rape her everyday.

“Balwant would beat me up and burn me with cigarettes,” Sana said.

The ordeal continued for two years, until the couple, who abducted her, came back for her. She was taken on a trail along Ambala, Chandigarh and other places in Punjab, at the end of which she was sold to one Jarnail, in a non-descript village.

“Jarnail’s relatives forced me to get married to an elderly driver, Bhagera Singh. I gave birth to two of his sons, Mamveer and Ranjit. After three years, he died and his family took away my sons and threw me out,” Sana said.

But Sana’s woes were far from over. The only memory Sana had was of Ambala and her home in Delhi. Lost and unsure of her next course, she took off to Ambala where she met a woman who promised her a job in Silliguri. Sana was again trafficked, this time into a dance bar.

But the situation was different this time. Move by her story, the woman promised to reunite Sana with her family.

“She used to frequently visit Delhi and knew about the city. Based on the description of the area, she brought me to Janta Colony,” Sana recounted.

Though Sana’s parents had shifted houses in the last decade, they were eventually located with the help of the neighbours.

Recounting how Sana had to introduce herself to her mother, police sources confirmed that the case has been reopened. “A case of kidnapping registered in 2006 was declared unsolved. Now that the victim is back, we will reopen the case and bust the human trafficking racket,” said DCP (northeast) AK Singla.