TRAFFICKED AS CHILD, TEEN BRIDE, KOBITA FIGHTS ODDS AND LANDS JOB AT AMAZON PAY

KOBITA

Location: Lalgola

Placed: AMAZON PAY

Kobita was born in Lalgola, Bengal. The daily earnings of the family used to be around only Rs 25 selling cow dung cakes. Kobita lost her father when she was just 12. Her paternal grandparents tortured her and her mother and called them inauspicious, making them responsible for the patriarch’s untimely death. “After a year of torture my mother took a big step and left my grandparent’s house at midnight. We spent days at the railway station asking people for work, and beg for food with no-work,” Kobita said.

After spending 7 to 8 months on the streets, the mother-daughter finally found someone who was ready to offer them work. They were taken to a hotel in Krishna Nagar in West Bengal and were offered clothes and food. “After months of begging we were really grateful for the food and fresh clothes. However, it only lasted for four days, and then my mother was taken away from me. Two to three men used to cuddle me as a child and later they sexually abused me. I understood what my mother was also going through,” she recalls. After being molested for more than a week, the local police came to rescue.

Kobita was then admitted to a local child shelter where she stayed till she turned 18. On her return, Kobita’s maternal grand-parents forcefully got her married to a much older man who turned out to be an alcoholic, and abusive. After suffering for three years, Kobita left her husband’s house and started living with her maternal grandparents again. It was during these years that she came across Anudip’s Building Entrepreneurs to Stop Trafficking (BEST) programme. The program lasted for 8-9 months where Kobita was provided with regular counseling, market-aligned skills training, and training in computer and IT. Now, she understands and speaks in English, works on computers, and has a job at AmazonPay.