Shristi (name changed) of Raksirang VDC in Makwanpur district fell in love with Prem Mandal, a shopkeeper in neighboring Manahari VDC, and married him within five months of their courtship. 

Shristi, who belonged to a poor family, was happy to be married with Mandal, who hailed from Birgunj and was comparatively well-off than her. 

After a few months of their marriage, Mandal told her that his business was down and that he was planning to go to India in search of a job. He took her along with him.

Once in India, Mandal handed her over to a trafficker and vamoosed. But it was only when the trafficker took her to a brothel she learnt that her husband had sold her, forcing her to become a sex worker. 

Luckily, after 11 months in the brothel, she managed to escape with the help of a customer. 

The incident of girls being trafficked under the guise of marriage came to light only after she filed a case at Makwanpur District Police Office on January 16 against her husband and his friends. 

As per her statement given to the police, Mandal had sold her in India a year ago, according to spokesperson at the DPO, DSP Dipak Thapa. 

DSP Thapa said that the girl does not know the name of the place where she was sold. 

Mandal, meanwhile, is on the run. “We have mobilized the police to nab him,” said Thapa. 

Similarly, a woman of Gadi-8 was taken to India by her in-laws who then sold her to a brothel in India. 

Makawanpur District Court had sentenced Sabitra Ghimire, the victim´s mother-in-law, and Raju Ghimire, her husband, to 11 years in jail for the crime. 


Five years ago, Sabitra and her husband had taken their daughter-in-law to India on the pretext of meeting their son Raju, who was working in Kolkata. 

When she fell ill after working as a sex worker for five years, the brothel operator dumped her along with garbage in some place in Siliguri, India. A non-government organization rescued her and brought her back to Nepal. 

On November 24, 2014, she filed a case against her in-laws and her husband at the DPO. But she died while the trial for the case was underway. 
DSP Thapa informed that the two incidents indicate that traffickers are using marriage as a guise for smuggling women to India. 

He said that girls and women are being trafficked to India mostly by their own relatives. 

He said that despite various efforts from the government and non-government sectors, the incidents of girl trafficking are on the rise. 

Last year, four cases of women being trafficked by their relatives were registered at the DPO.

Published on: 31 January 2015 | Republica