Sonitpur, Mar 18: In a heartening yet tragic incident, a girl unites with her parents after a long period of 15 years in Assam’s Sonitpur district.
According to sources, the girl, identified as Anita Khediya, a resident of Sootea, was handed over to an Arunachali couple in 2008 by her parents, Bandhan Khediya and Phuleswari Khediya, to serve as a household helper.
The parents took the hurtful decision of handing her over to the couple due to the poor financial condition of the family.
The couple, to whom the parents handed over their daughter, identified themselves as residents of Seijusa in the Pakke Kessang district of Arunachal Pradesh, which shares a boundary with Jamugurighat.
After handing over their daughter, the parents tried to visit their daughter at the said location, however, they failed to meet her as the address the couple provided them turned out to be fake.
It is learned that Anita was taken to Hapoli in Ziro, where she was trapped as a child labourer and she had no communication with her parents since she left.
However, after a gap of 15 years, Anita made contact with her sister through Facebook, appealing for her rescue from the clutches of the Arunachali couple.
Later, with the help of an NGO ‘One Stop’ based in Lower Subansiri district, Anita was rescued and dropped at Sootea Police Station on Friday night. She was then handed over to her parents.
It has come to the fore that Anita has now turned 23 years of age and has acquired no formal education till date and no personal identity cards to prove her identity at present.
Informing about the same, Anita told The Assam Tribune, “At the age of eight, I was confined to Shibu Lama’s house in Arunachal. They kept me there but I was disconnected from my family. I am now back to my home with the help of One Stop, an Adivasi NGO.”