Forced Labor and Sex Trafficking: Victims Trafficked from Assam to Arunachal

Just on the side of the railway track of NF Railway’s Rangiya-Murkongchelek route in Lakhimpur district near the inter-state border village of Rajgarh-Bangali lies an unknown and unmarked grave. I was led by Joseph, a young activist to show the grave covered with wild vegetation, as it has no visitor for a tribute since the burial in January 2019. The grave belongs to one Mangal Sai Kherwar whose body, wrapped in a plastic bag and was left on the Assam side of the inter-state boundary from Arunachal Pradesh where he had gone for work as a labourer in a timber depot.

Mangal (28) went from Rajgarh-Bangali village under Ujjalpur Gaon Panchayat in Lakhimpur district, to Arunachal Pradesh along with some of his friends to work in a timber depot deep inside the forest to carry logs. He fell ill during his stay in the jungle and died untreated. After his death, the owner of the timber depot sent and left Mangal’s body at the inter-state boundary in Kakoi, Lakhimpur. His fellow villagers informed police at Lilabari Police Outpost but no action was taken.

The police just reportedly asked the villagers to bury the dead and did not take any follow-up action. As a result, the villagers had no choice but to bury Mangal near the railway tracks. Mangal has no kin left in this world. His father Sukh Ram Kherwar died a few months after his death last year and his only sister has been untraceable for a long time. This is not the only story of young boys going for work to the neighbouring state and returning in plastic bags  after dying under mysterious circumstances, unreported and uncompensated.

Forced labour and sex slavery:

Gabriel Turi (19) from nearby Balijan village also returned in a plastic bag on February 3, 2019 four days after his death in Arunachal Pradesh. Gabriel was taken to Arunachal Pradesh along with 21 other men from the village by a contractor named Bolin Biswas from Behera Basti under Lilabari Police Outpost of Lakhimpur district. The 21-member group of men from Balijan village was told by the contractor that they will be engaged in road construction work at Naharlagun, near Itanagar, the capital of Arunachal Pradesh. Instead, they were transported to Seppa in East Kameng district and forced to work in a very remote place.

As Gabriel and nine other men wanted to return home from the place of their work, the contractor allegedly forced them to stay there. Taking a chance on the night of January 30, 2019 Gabriel and nine other labourers escaped from their workplace. But they were chased by the contractor upon which all of them jumped from a hill. Gabriel lost his life in that jump while the others sustained injuries. Following his death, the contractor sent the body accompanied by a fellow labourer to his native village in Balijan. Again, the police did not take any action although they were informed. Gabriel’s family has neither received any compensation from his employer nor any justice from the authority.

Vulnerable children from tea plantations.

Shabnam (name changed), a young woman at present living with her maternal aunt near Seajuli Tea Estate under Bogeenadi Police Station in Lakhimpur district is the mother of two young children. She was not allowed to stay in her parental house at Panchnoi near Dejoo Tea Estate in the same district. In 2019, Shabnam escaped a long ordeal of sex slavery inside Arunachal Pradesh where she was abducted and trafficked at a very young age. She literally lost her own identity and childhood memories and also her mother tongue.

Citing instances of her traumatized life in Arunachal Pradesh, Shabnam narrated her endless nightmarish experiences of physical abuse and torture before me. Expressing her inability to name her abductor-trafficker as she was tender aged then, Shabnam said she was forced into motherhood at the age of 13 by her employer named Hagu Palang of Kamle district in Arunachal Pradesh. She could not breast-feed her first child, who was a daughter, because of her underged motherhood. She was forced to work in the cardamom plantations of Hagu Palang for 12 hours a day even after the delivery of her child and was subjected to physical abuse by his wives from earlier marriages.

Shabnam said that Palang had three wives and he kept her as a sex slave. She also alleged that a son of Palang’s first wife murdered her daughter by drowning in a river. After that, Shabnam continued to be used and abused as a forced labour in the cardamom plantation and exploited as a sex slave by Palang for several years. Shabnam, subsequently, gave birth to two more children a daughter who is now six-and-a- half-years old and a son who is about four year old.

Not surprisingly, Shabnam awaited her chance to make an escape from the blood-stained clutches of her ruthless abductor, who exploited her endlessly. As she finally managed to give her abductor the slip, she ultimately reached the inter-state boundary of Lakhimpur district with the help of an old woman. Strange though it may seem, her troubles did not end there as destiny had more misery in store for her parental family at Panchnoi, Dejoo refused to extend her much-needed shelter.

Her father Chunnilal Karmakar and mother Julie Karmakar are long dead. The apprehension of being caught by Palang again naturally haunts Shabnam. A destitute today with two young children staring at an uncertain future, Shabnam is patiently awaiting justice. Shabnam’s ghastly plight and longing for justice after her prolonged trauma once again lays bare the existence of forced labour and sexual slavery of girls trafficked from Assam inside Arunachal Pradesh. Significantly, Shabnam informed that there are many trafficked girls from Assam who are kept as slaves in remote areas of Arunachal Pradesh.

Chumi (name changed), a fifteen-year-old girl from Rangapara Tea Estate in Sonitpur district of Assam was sold by her uncle to a trafficker in Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh in 2016. She was subjected to sex abuse by her captors besides the daily ordeal of domestic chores before she escaped in 2019.

Nirmala (name changed), from Seajuli Tea Estate, was trafficked at her tender ages to Arunachal Pradesh where she worked at a cardamom plantation in Kamle district. She was kept as a sex slave by her captor by one Hagu Palang. Nirmala became pregnant at 13 and could not even breastfeed her daughter during her early motherhood. Her daughter was allegedly killed by the son of Palang by pushing her into the river from a height. Later she gave birth to two more children by 2018. In the winter of late 2019, Nirmala escaped her long captivity of sex slavery and reached her village with her two children. With no one in the family to help her, Nirmala has been sheltered by her maternal uncle.

In Boroi Tea Estate in Biswanath district, Neha (name changed), has returned to her parents twenty years after her trafficking with a seven-year-old daughter after a long ordeal of sex slavery in Pakeng, Arunachal Pradesh. She was abused by many males in the family where she was married to.

Ranee, a twelve-year-old daughter of Holy Malpahari from No. 15 Line of Zoihing Tea Estate, in Lakhimpur district was picked up by one Deepak Chetry of Banderdewa, from her in 2008. Since then there has been no news of Ranee for her parents. There is also no news of Nikita (12), daughter of Samra Malpahari of the same labour line of the tea estate. Nikita too was taken away by an agent to be engaged in domestic work in Arunachal Pradesh in 2008.

Roopali Barla, daughter of late Remes Barla of the Doolahat Tea Estate has the same story. She has not returned home ever since she was taken away to Arunachal Pradesh by a local agent in 2003. Her widowed mother has no idea of her whereabouts. Similarly, Hawamani, daughter of Nandalal, the sweeper of the same tea garden was taken away by a local agent named Paul in 2005. Hawamani has not returned home ever since. Tinu Karmakar, a labour from No. 20 Line of Doolahat Tea Estate is also waiting for his daughter Teresa taken away by an agent Simanta Tanti in 2006.

The No. 20 Labour Line of Doolahat Tea Estate has earned the dubious distinction of girl child trafficking in Lakhimpur district. Dozens of girls are found to be trafficked by a local agent named Monica. Chiragjyoti, daughter of Baha Lohar, Bhani, daughter of Lal Dhan and Arati, daughter of Rubul Tanti are some of the unfortunate girls from this labour line who might still be languishing in some unknown places in Arunachal Pradesh.

Ursula Kulu, daughter of Santosh and Monica Kulu of Akarabasti near Seajuli Tea Estate, Lakhimpur district has been missing since 2011 when she was 12 years old. She was taken by Tarsiers Carla and Sylus Belung to a person from Sector-C in Naharlagun, Arunachal Pradesh for work as a domestic help on 28th September, 2011. On 30th September, 2011 Ursula’s mother Monica was informed about her missing from that home in Naharlagun.

Monica went to the home in Naharlagun in search of her missing daughter on the next day and was told about Ursula’s disappearance. A report in the local police station and a missing advertisement on a local newspaper was also shown to Monica by Ursula’s employer. Since then Ursula has been untraced. Unfortunately her parents could not remember the name of the person from whose home Ursula went missing nor do they have the copy of the newspaper advertisement.

Carmela Sawra (7), daughter of Tarsiers and Burtela Sawra was given to a person from Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh in 2007. Since then they are receiving no news from their daughter Carmela. Mangal Bhumiz, a fellow villager gave his daughter Munni Bhumiz to his friend who took her to a person in Banderdewa, Arunachal Pradesh. For the last twelve years, Mangal is searching his daughter in vain. The employer of his daughter in Banderdewa also told him that Munni had been missing from his home since a long time.

Mohiram Gonju from Halem Tea Estate in Biswanath district went to see his daughter Karmi in 2009 in Ganga, Arunachal Pradesh. Karmi was taken by one Techi Budu in 2005 to be engaged as domestic help. Mohiram was roughed up by Karmi’s captors during that visit and since then the whereabouts of Karmi is not known to him. His compatriot Thaneswar Top also had an abortive attempt to rescue his trafficked daughter in 2002 from Hapoli, Arunachal Pradesh. Since then Thaneswar has become dumb.

Periphery world on the inter-state boundary:

Assam’s tea plantation areas spread over the inter-state boundary with Arunachal Pradesh. The traditional movement of men and local products across the inter-state boundary has emerged as the gateway to the world of trafficking, bondage and slavery as the socially marginalized tea plantation workers are easily lured to send their daughters for work inside Arunachal Pradesh.

Trafficking of both boys and girls to be engaged as slaves in various plantations and other back-breaking work inside Arunachal Pradesh has been covertly going on unabated. In most cases the victims are from the tea garden Adivasi and religious minority communities of Assam who are targeted by the traffickers by taking advantage of their vulnerable position in the society.

These are the just two stories of unreported tragedies affecting the rural poor who have been exploited by traffickers for forced labour. The entire border area of Lakhimpur with Arunachal Pradesh is the hub of human trafficking in which unemployed youth are taken to be engaged in various works with a promise of better life. In most of the cases, the reality is seemingly bleak. They are forced to work in hazardous conditions and confined with no hope of return to their native villages. Rampant trafficking of young girl children is also taking place from this area to Arunachal Pradesh.

All the tea plantations stretching from Lakhimpur to Darrang covering four districts on the northern bank of the Brahmaputra in Assam are touching the inter-state boundaries with Arunachal Pradesh.  The plantations and their nearby villages are inhabited by Adivasi people, originally transported by the colonial British authorities from Central India to be engaged in the tea plantations during the mid-nineteenth century. The proximity of the tea estates to the inter-state border makes the buyers from the neighbouring state to visit and roam the labour settlements easily in Assam.

The local agents of traffickers make false promises of a better life for the girls before their parents with the promise of money. The poor and mostly alcoholic fathers easily succumb to these lures and meekly hand over their daughters to the buyers coming from Arunachal Pradesh. But far from the promises, the girls never return home thereafter.

The geographical remoteness of these inter-state border areas of Lakhimpur, Biswanath, Sonitpur and Darrang districts and the prevailing socio-economic conditions of the people living there make them easy prey to the predators of human trafficking. Poverty, economic hardship coupled with alcoholism has made most of the parents here vulnerable to the lure of money in exchange of their gild child to the world of slavery and abuse across the inter-state border.

The easy availability of spurious IMF (Indian Made Foreign) liquor from Arunachal Pradesh as well as the bootlegging of local liqour make things worse for these people who sale their most precious possessions for their drinking demands. The parents are initially paid some money by the buyers or agents and no payments are made subsequently.

The strange part of all the cases is that none of the parents of the trafficked girls know fully about the names of the persons and their addresses where their girls are taken to. The parents also do not have photographs of their trafficked daughters. From Arunachal Pradesh the trafficked girls are sent outside the region as missing cases are often reported following their supply from Assam to the neighbouring state.

Alien in own land:

The monotony of jobless youth sitting idly on a rainy day of May 30, 2022 when entire Assam was reeling under flood due to abnormal early monsoon, turned out to a sudden rush of activities in the village of Malgaon-Bagulawra in Kokrajhar district when one Rezaul Karim from neighbouring Abhayapuri of Bongaigaon district visited them. Rezaul was in search of workers for jobs in West Bengal with higher wages. Soon a group of seven youths from the village—Kalimuddin Seikh, Manowar Hussain, Mazidul Ali, Farizul Haq, Abul Hussain, Samiul Seikh and Ainul Haq accompanied Reazul for their new destination.

This group was joined by thirteen more from Manikpur in Bongaingaon district, also arranged by Rezaul for West Bengal. But no one from the group had the idea that their journey to West Bengal was actually a part of a business of slave trading. The whole team of twenty people was transported to another unknown place by two more persons: Roham Ali and Abdul Quddus, besides Reazul.  Instead of taking the group to West Bengal, they took them to a remote corner of Arunachal Pradesh on the Indo-China border where large infrastructure works are on.

On June 2, 2022, a distress call was received from one worker of the group from Itanagar by a family member. The caller requested him to transfer some money so that they could return home as they were reluctant to move further deep onto the hills. “He informed me that the workers were to be forcefully taken to Koloriang in Kurung Kumey district which was far away from Itanagar. However our conversation was overheard by Rezaul and he snatched all of their mobile phones and took them to Koloriang”, said the relative.

After almost a month Johirul, the family member, received a Whatsapp call from the same worker from a place called Huri in Kurung Kamey district. The worker used wi-fi network from a Border Road Organization (BRO) post to connect with Assam as the entire area has no mobile network. That Whatsapp call narrated how the entire group of workers from Assam was taken by Reazul first to Koroliang, then to Damin and finally to Huri for construction of a road project by BRO.

Situated at 1040 meters above the sea level and 257 kms away from capital Itanagar, Koroliang is the district headquarters of Kurung Kamey district in Arunachal Pradesh and Huri is 170 km north of Koloriang. Huri, the last Indian village is 100 km away from the Chinese border.

Rezaul and Roham handed over the group of workers to one Bengiya Bado, the Border Roads Organization (BRO) contractor for Damin to Huri road project.

On July 2, 2022 Johirul Islam in Bilasipara, Assam was again Whatsapped by a worker from Huri informing that Rezaul and Roham Ali had left their camp. On the next day there was another Whatsapp message saying the workers were willing to return home for Eid.

“The workers at Huri were told by Bengia Teni, the in-charge of the camp that they (workers) could not leave before the completion of the project as Rezaul had sold them to the contractor for Rs. 20 lakhs”, says Johirul quoting the Whatsapp messages. The camp in-charge also fired blank shots to threaten the workers to stay and forced them to continue their work.

Thus after forced to labour for more than a month under captivity and being sold by traffickers, 19 workers from Assam in the Huri camp decided to escape on the night of July 3, 2022—hoping to reach Itanagar in three days trekking the hills. Abdul Amin, Manowar Hussain, Mazidul Ali, Shamijul Seikh, Kalimuddin Sheikh, Abul Hussain, Ainal Haque, Farizul Haque, Wajid Ali, Hikmat Ali, Rustom Ali, Abdul Amin, Khairul Islam, Nurul Islam, Ibrahim Ali, Hamidul Haque, Maijul Haque, Jainal Ali and Imamul Hassan—all took an arduous journey for freedom without any navigation tools stepping in an inhospitable terrain full of venomous snakes.

Majidul (29) was one of the seven workers who trekked for eight days from Huri and got lost in the dense forest. On the ninth day, three of the group—Kalimuddin (27), Samijul (19) and Abul Hussain (40) could not move due to fatigue and weakness.

“After a day another member of our group Farijul died due to overnight drenching in rain in the jungle”, recounts Majidul on their horrific ordeal. Next day Ainul Haque (22), another companion too could not walk any more.

“We left him under the shed of a banana leaf inside the jungle”, recounts Majidul.

“We walked in dense jungles, crossed high current rivers, ate wild bananas and its shoots for days and night under the rain”, said Jainal Ali, an “escapee” from Bhakuwamari village in Baksa district of Assam.

It was only on July, 13, 2022, more than a week after that the world came to know about the “escape” of the forced labours from Arunachal Pradesh when the BRO contractor Bengia Tado informed the police about their disappearance. Bengiya in a press meet also defended his stand of not allowing the workers to visit their homes for Eid. “There is provision for celebration of all religious festivals on the camp hence no one needs to visit home”, said Bengiya in a press meet.

By July 23, 2022, ten of the 19 workers were rescued by the police and district administration of Kurum Kumey with the help of IAF choppers, SDRF and villagers. By July 28, five bodies of the workers were recovered from steep and deep, dense forest between Huri and Tapa areas of the district in decomposed conditions. They were identified as Farijul Haque (23), Maijul Haque (28), Rustom Ali (40) and Abul Hussain (40).

According to the rescued workers, Wajid Ali, another worker was left in the jungle by his fellow escapees as he was too weak to move after a long trek without food. Earlier, Hikmat Ali (45) died first as he was drowned in Furak river. His body is yet to be found. Others that could not make it were Nurul Islam (28), Sahidul Islam (22), Ainul Haque (22) and Bazed Ali (26). A rescued worker Kalimuddin Sheikh (27) later died on August 10, after reaching his home.

Trafficker Rezaul Karim from Abhayapuri of Bongaingaon district in Assam took the 19 “escapees” workers to Banderdewa and handed over them to Roham Ali and Quddus Ali from Lakhimpur district. Roham and Quddus took the workers to Kurung Kumey district in Arunachal Pradesh after arranging Inner Line Permit (ILP) passes for them. It was Roham Ali who left the workers in Damin without informing them after being paid by Bengia Tado, the BRO contractor. The ILPs were issued for M/s B.B. Enterprise, Koloriang in Kurung Kumey district of Arunachal Pradesh. This company is owned by Bengia Tado, the BRO contractor.

“Reazul and Roham sold us to Bengia Tado who did not let us to return on Eid. After a month’s hard labour in a remote area there was no option for us but to flee from their capitivity”, says Mujidul Ali after reaching his village Malgaon in Kokrajhar district of Assam.

This year in July a group of construction workers from Lakhimpur district in Assam have been held captive and allegedly tortured by their employer in a remote area of Arunachal Pradesh.

According to police, the workers, who were lured to the state with the promise of good wages, have been forced to work long hours in harsh conditions. They have also been beaten and denied food and water.

The workers, who have been identified as Mizanur Rahman, Mayezuddin, Md. Akramul, Azharul Islam, Ashraf Ali, Md. Iyazuddin, Atiqul Islam, and Abdul Jaleel, are all from the Borchola-Mohghuli-Pandhowa Gaon Panchayat of Nowboicha area in North Assam’s Lakhimpur district, said a police official.

They were brought to Arunachal Pradesh by person identified as Abdul Bashir. Bashir had promised them jobs in a road construction project in the Koroliang area of Kamle district.

However, upon arrival, the workers were taken to a remote location and forced to work on a different project.

The workers managed to send SOS videos to their relatives in Assam, who then alerted the police.

They said that the remoteness of the work area made them to return home. But their employer contractor Tak San did not allow them to return. It

It is learnt that the contractor had paid Rs. 55,000 to the traffickers who brought the the workers from Lakhimpur for road construction works at Koroliang.

The workers in a video sent to family members said that the contractor held them captive and forced them to work unless his payment of Rs 55,000 was not refunded.

The workers allege that they were forced to work 12-hour days, 7 days a week. They were also denied food and water, and were beaten up.

In both the cases, the victims belong to the community of Muslims of East Bengali descent that has the history of their settlement in Assam some hundred years ago. Socially marginalized, this community is still considered as aliens, “illegal infiltrators”, “Bangladeshis” by the mainstream narratives. Amidst adversities like social and political castigation, climate induced displacements and violence by some ethic groups, they had limited choices to make when they gets any outlets for livelihood. And traffickers take this opportunity to exploit them.

The law is unable to deliver:

“All that are responsible for our plight must be punished by law”, demands Mujidul Ali. But the law is yet to reach such inhuman activities going on unabatedly.

The entire “escape” is the latest revelation of unabated forced labour and slavery in Arunachal Pradesh. Massive infrastructural developmental works in the remote and inhospitable terrains in the border state have been on at the cost of trafficked of persons from the marginalized communities of neighbouring Assam. Contractors of the construction projects in Arunachal Pradesh collect workers from Assam through traffickers acting as labour contractors who lure the poor and vulnerable communities from the state promising better wages. Once the workers are transported to the project sites located in remote high altitude terrain, there is no hope of return.

Family members of the trafficked men filed an FIR against Rezaul Karim at Kokrajhar Police station on July 9. Similar cases have already been filed by the victim’s families at Bongaingaon, Baksa and Barpeta districts of Assam. However police is yet to arrest Rezaul who hails from Hira Para, Lalmati in Abhayapuri of Bongaingaon district of Assam. Arunachal Pradesh Police while denying forced labour in the state, has arrested Bengia Tani, the in-charge of the worker’s camp at Huri and the trafficker Roham Ali. The Deputy Commissioner of Kurung Kumey Bengia, who oversaw the rescue operation of the missing workers, said that it was beyond his jurisdiction to initiate actions against BRO contractor Bengia Tado.

Even the overstay of the workers from Assam after the validity of the ILP pass is also overlooked by the administration in Arunachal Pradesh. The two ILPs with No. DMK/JUD-01/2022-23/-3172 and DMK/JUD-01/2022-23/-3179, dated 30/05/2022, issued by the Sub Divisional Officer, Doimukh at Papum Pare district of Arunachal Pradesh was valid for fifteen days with effect from 30/05/2022 to 14/06/2022. This clearly states that when the workers wanted to return home in July 3 for the Eid, their ILP passes had already expired.

As climate induced calamities like flood and river bank erosion has shrinking the livelihood options of the socially marginalized communities in the plains of Assam, the lure for jobs with a good wage and food is an opportunity to grab for many jobless youths. They are preyed upon by traffickers like Reazul Karim and Roham Ali to be sold as slaves to contractors engaged in infrastructure projects inside Arunachal Pradesh. The border state has also the dubious distinction of keeping trafficked girl child as slaves from marginalized communities from neighbouring Assam.

The apathy of law enforcement, state agencies and mainstream society are equally responsible for the existence of these activities. Living in a world of the periphery, the young girls of the Adivasi community in Assam’s tea plantations are always vulnerable to outsiders as their mothers remain busy in plantations and fathers sit in drunkard conditions at home. The world outside is always an illusion for change for these deprived girls as they easily express their consent to get married to far-off places for a change. The indifference of the tea garden management to these activities is also responsible for their plight as welfare measures are very inadequate and wages are very low despite consistent demands.

A coordinated and sustained campaign by all stakeholders is the need of the hour to bring a difference to this menace. Curbing on alcohol trade, strict enforcement of the law, encouragement of sporting activities, sensitization on gender equality and other reach-out programmes by the mainstream society could bring changes to the community from the present plight. Recently the state government of Assam has introduced model high schools in tea plantation areas to spread education among the Adivasi children. This initiative is also expected to contribute towards ending the social exclusion of this community.

Bridal trafficking:

Apart from the trafficking of young men and women from vulnerable groups from Assam for forced labobur and sex slavery has been on, trafficking of young girls from these communities as brides outside the state is also going on. It is the unabated trafficking of girls from Assam’s tea plantations to outside the region is the coming of grooms from Rajasthan to find their brides.

Ram Niwas Barhoi (name changed), a primary school teacher from Koilamari Tea Estate in Lakhimpur district was met by one Anil Kumar alias Hiralal Agarwal, son of Sohan Lal Agarwal from Sikar district in Rajasthan in mid-2016 who asked to marry his granddaughter Rakhi Tanti (name changed), a young school going girl. To get rid of the menace of his alcoholic son-in-law, Ram Niwas agreed to Anil’s solicitation to marry his granddaughter.

Accordingly, a marriage ceremony was performed in a local temple on 24th July, 2016 and a marriage agreement was signed between the two parties before a notary in North Lakhimpur on 25th July, 2016. After that Rakhi was taken by Anil to his native village of Garuda, Laxmangarh Tehsil under Nechchua Police Station of Sikar district in Rajasthan. Since then Rekha has not returned to her home in Koilamari Tea Estate in Lakhimpur district. She is living with her in-laws in the village as her husband Anil Kumar alias Hiralal Agarwal is working in Gujarat.

According to Rakhi’s family members, the groom from Rajasthan was introduced to them by one Milki Khodal, daughter of Phulchand Khodal of No. 10 Labour Line of Koilamari Tea Estate. Milki too was married off to one Shrawan Kumar, son of Bhanwar Lal of Baniyon Ka Mohalla, village Garoda in Sikar district of Rajasthan two years ago. Another girl, Deepanjali from the same tea garden is also married to a man from Sikar district in Rajasthan.

One wonders here how young girls from a remote tea garden in Lakhimpur district are being matrimonially connected to a Rajasthan village thousands of miles away. This has allegedly been made possible by Hanuman Prajapati, a trader from Sikar, Rajasthan who runs a grocery store in Koilamari tea estate. According to the family members of Milky, Hanuman Prajapati brought Shrawan Kumar to the tea estate to marry her. Similarly, Ram Prasad Barhoi says that Hiralal Agarwal, who married his granddaughter Rekha Tanti is a relative of an established businessman from Rajasthan based in North Lakhimpur town.

Nirmala (name changed), daughter of Subhas Sahu of No. 10 Line of Zoihing Tea Estate in Lakhimpur district was married to Prakash Soni, son of Iswar Lal Soni of Gali No. 2 of Baldev Nagar, Jodhpur in Rajasthan through an alleged bridal trafficking arrangement in 2017.

In 2021, Nirmala’s husband, Prakash Soni is now continuing harassing her by uploading obscene materials and postings on her on social media. Creating a Whatsapp group by including numbers of her guardians and extended family, Prakash has been posting obscene materials on Nirmala. For which Nirmala has been receiving endless phone calls from unknown persons with lewd gestures in the last several months. This has greatly affected her family.

As told by Nirmala she was earlier subjected to regular physical abuse and atrocities by her husband since the birth of their child. She was also forced to bring money worth several lakhs from her father in Lakhimpur for business and land purchase by Prakash in Rajasthan. Each time Subhas Sahu, the victim’s father fulfilled the demands. Despite these atrocities and violence by Prakash Soni on Nirmala continued.

“I was locked inside the house by my husband in Jodhpur and barred from talking and meeting anyone by my husband. He even installed CCTV cameras inside the house to monitor me and prevented me from making phone calls to my parents back home”, says Nirmala. In January 2019, Prakash also poured acid on her body which forced her to flee to Delhi. Four days later, with the help of Rajasthan Women Police, Nirmala took her young child and returned to her parents in Zoihing Tea Estate in Lakhimpur. The victim’s family now wants to file cybercrime complaints against Prakash Soni.

These long-distance marriages have been going on in Koilamari Tea Estate of Lakhimpur district quite secretly taking advantage of the social exclusion and poverty of the tea garden worker community. Strangers from Rajasthan come one day and lure not only the girls but the entire community of the tea garden workers who have no idea of the geographical distance of the place where the bride will be sent off.

The community also has no idea about the differences in language, social set up, culture, food habits and terrain that their daughters would have to endure throughout their lives in Rajasthan. Noticeably, the grooms that are coming for their brides here are from upper caste communities in socially stratified Rajasthan and the girls they marry are from Adivasi tribes. How these girls encounter the caste divide in their in-law’s homes away in Rajasthan is a matter of concern here.

These marriages are conducted so secretly is not convincing so far as the dignity of the women are concerned. As states like Rajasthan and Haryana have a very low record on women’s rights and dwindling girl-child ratio, many here are apprehensive of the condition of girls married off to those areas. The gender ratio in Rajasthan for children up to six years fell sharply from 909 for every 1,000 boys in 2001 to 883 in 2011.

Society is so cruel towards girls in Rajasthan that newborn girls are abandoned daily in the state. In India 90% of the 11 million abandoned babies are girls. In Rajasthan, 674 children were abandoned between 2007 and 2011, the second highest in the country. This prompted the Rajasthan government to introduce the Ashray Palna Yojana project in 2015-2016 to install cradles throughout the state – at all district hospitals, medical colleges, and satellite hospitals for the parents to anonymously leave their unwanted babies.

Thus for a traditionally gender-insensitive state like Rajasthan the sending off of girls as brides from one of the most socially excluded parts of Assam is a matter of great concern. These girls too would be exposed to the gender-bias practices of their respective husband’s homes causing great harm to their future.