Her sister, Nisha was dead and she felt nothing. As she stared at the sea her mind traveled back to what happened to her ten years ago. She was 13 at the time. She left her home with Nisha and her husband, thinking that they were going to Delhi but instead, they ended up in a remote village. She was sold into marriage to a man old enough to be her father.
Hatred toward her sister and her brother-in-law welled inside her. They had betrayed her. She trusted them and they betrayed her. They made her believe that they were going to Delhi but instead they took her to a village where strange men were coming into the room where she was kept and looking at her as if she were a piece of merchandise and offering money. All the while Nisha stood outside, knowing what what was going to happen to her and not having a change of heart. She kept hoping that her sister would rush in and try to stop what was happening but she didn’t. Fortune meant more to Nisha than her sister did.
She managed to escape and was rescued by an anti-trafficking charity. She was sent back to her parents. She was among the lucky girls. Many of them are lost to their families and trapped in a world of sex and domestic slavery. Several days later, word got back to the family that police busted a human trafficking ring. Nisha and her husband were part of the ring responsible for selling girls to men in the same village where they had taken her.
Now ten years later, she was working for the charity which rescued her. She was determined to fight people like Nisha and her husband and all the evil forces to protect other girls from going through the horrors she did. Nisha was dead now but there were others like her out there who preyed on young girls for profit. She was going to fight them. And more traffickers were going to end up in prison like her brother-in-law. She hoped he was rotting in there.
One thing she learned from this whole experience was that the face of evil didn’t have to belong to a stranger–it could very well belong to someone very close to you. She felt no sorrow over Nisha’s death–only peace. It was one less evil person to fight against.
To remain silent in the face of evil is itself a form of evil – Sue Monk Kidd
Do not accept an evil you can change – E. Lockhart, We Were Liars
This was inspired by a true story of a teenager who was sold into marriage by her sister and brother-in-law. It was written in response to the Thursday Photo Prompt – Waves at Sue Vincent’s Daily Echo. For more details click here.
Sources: The Guardian; Washington Post
A powerful piece on an abhorrent practice.
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Thanks, Sue. It’s a practice that has been going on for far too long.
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I know, and one too many would prefer to ignore.
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Exactly! Most people ignore these things because they don’t affect them directly.
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And because, if we take note of something, we may have to act…
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That’s so true.
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Sadly.
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Powerful stuff.
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Thank you.
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This is a terrible thing to happen. Sadly it is still happening. Some poor girls who have known nothing but western life are tricked into holidays ” back home” . Marriage to a stranger in a strange place and sometimes even worse. Well done you for writing about it. 💜
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Yes, it’s still happening. And thank you. The best I can do is help to raise awareness.
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I have just republished a poem I wrote on the same subject back in 2013
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I would like to read your poem, if you don’t mind 🙂
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Thanks for reposting. And yes, child marriage is a criminal practice and should be banned.
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