Triveni AchAryA The Crusader Against Human Trafficking in India

my newspaper. After the event got over, driven by my curiosity, I ventured into the tabooed lanes of Kamathipura,” recalls Mrs. Acharya, who is actively involved with all rescue activities and is recently back from a rescue operation in Bihar. She continues, “I saw some juvenile girls applying makeup. I first assumed their mothers were sex workers but was shocked to learn that these young girls were forced into prostitution, some even sold by their family members. I offered to give them ticket fares to return to their homes, but they refused. They had failed in their earlier attempts to escape from the brothel and were forcefully brought back and tortured. Chilli powder was put on their private parts; they were not given food for days and were raped multiple times. While I was still talking to them, the brothel madam came along with a mob and asked me to leave. I left from there, but the haunting images of those young girls stayed with me.” Mrs. Acharya was deeply affected by what she had witnessed that day and broke down in front of her husband, the late Balkrishna Acharya. Surprisingly, he revealed that he had also wanted to talk to her about a similar subject. Coincidentally, one of his employees approached him to rescue his partner trapped in the red-light area.

“We decided to help that girl. We garnered some police support and carried out a rescue operation. However, when we went to save one, fourteen other girls pleaded for help. We succeeded in rescuing all of them and brought them home,” recollects Mrs. Acharya and continues, “After the rescue, we gathered our savings, sought help from the journalist union and collected funds to take the girls back to their homes in Nepal. While some families welcomed their missing daughters warmly, some refused to accept them. A few rescued girls had contracted HIV and had nowhere to go. So, we sought help from an NGO called Maiti Nepal, who took the girls under their shelter.” By then, despite being criticized by family and friends for helping sex workers, Mrs. Acharya and her husband had made the life-changing decision to dedicate their lives to fight against this cause. They faced numerous threats but continued their rescue and rehabilitation work in partnership with Maiti Nepal. Their unrelenting commitment to the cause garnered widespread recognition, including the Reebok Human Rights Award in 2000, which included a prize of US$100,000. “After we received this