“My husband was in the military, but after we shifted to Mumbai, he opened his own business and I worked as a journalist. One day, I went to cover the story of a celebrity who was going to be in a red light area for an event. When I reached there I saw a young girl who was only 13-14 years old. When I asked her where her mother was, she said was from Nepal and had come here to work, but was sold instead. I was traumatised, but before I could say or do anything, a few people came and asked me to get out.

My husband and I decided to tell my contacts in the police, and he went with them to rescue the girl. But when they got there, they found at least 15 other girls who wanted to run away. He convinced the police to save them all so that we could help them get home. That day, we realised we needed to do something to help other girls in the same situation. So, my husband sold his business and began rescuing girls full time, while I continued working to maintain contacts, and sustain us financially. 

My husband would either pose as a customer or a dealer. He’d then find out where the girls were kept and by whom. Once we had the information, we would tell the cops and get them out of there. We rescued over 300 girls in the first year itself. I remember this one time, we had eyes on a particular area and were going to rescue girls from there very soon. Just a day before we were set to go, one of the sex workers committed suicide there. She left behind a baby, who we decided to adopt as our own. We were happy making a difference!

But pretty soon, we started getting threats. One day, we got a letter that said, ‘Either join forces with us or you’ll be in your grave’. I was terrified for my husband because two days later, he had to go on a rescue mission. Before he left, he asked me not to worry and that everything would be okay. But the next day, when he was on his way back, a truck rammed into him, and he died on the spot. I fought to prove that it was murder, not an accident, but the investigation proved otherwise. I lost all hope and even thought about shutting down the foundation. 

The girls we’d rescued became my anchor. They reminded me of all the lives my husband had saved and encouraged me to continue his legacy. Today, we have 4 shelter homes — we provide counselling, healthcare, education and even legal aid. Some of the girls are happily married, settled abroad, or building their careers! It’s been 12 years since I lost him. I’ve faced a lot of hardships along the way, seen the worst kind of people doing the worst kind of things. But with every girl we save, with every convict we bring to justice — I can feel my husband by my side, holding me, telling me that we’ve got to keep fighting, no matter what.”

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