Shelter home for survivors of human trafficking

Lalita’s story is one of those that encourages us to keep doing the work we do at Mumbai Smiles.

Her life was never easy. She is 35 years old, and for the last 20 years she has lived through extremely hard and inhuman experiences. Three years ago she joined the Udaan house and since then her future was transformed. Finally, last June 30, she has completed her rehabilitation process and has left the shelter home to live the life she deserves.

A past of betrayals and threats

Lalita was born and raised in the state of Karnataka. At  the age of 15 she ran away from home with a man, Arin, she had fallen in love with. Shortly after they were together, he started to force her into prostitution. Lalita saw no alternative and had to accept. When she became pregnant a few years later, they moved to Mumbai, where her husband continued exploiting her. One day, when her daughter (Pari) was only one year old, she came to know that her husband was already married and had two children with another woman. This woman came to look for Arin and they left, taking Lalita's with them to Madhya Pradesh.

In addition to this abrupt change in her life, Arin requested her to send him money, threatening with not allowing her to see or speak to her daughter. Due to this, she had to do domestic work whereas continued being sexually exploited.  

For more than 5 years, Lalita had to send about 10,000 rupees (approximately 120 US dollars) every month to Arin. But her economic situation got worse, and she was not able to keep sending him money. From that moment, Arin forbade her from speaking to her own daughter, and Lalita knew that she had to find a solution. It was then that she approached Mumbai Smiles for help.

The reunion with his daughter

Lalita learned about our organization thanks to a friend. When we knew about her case, we immediately proposed her to move to the Udaan house, so that she could heal her wounds and get trained for a better future.

She entered the house on April 2021. At that time she only had one goal: to get her daughter back. With this mission, the Mumbai Smiles team took legal action so that Lalita could rejoin her and bring her along to the Udaan house. Pari had also been a victim of child abuse, therefore our team worked hard so Lalita could get her daughter's full custody. Once they were both safe, we got Pari registered to a school in the area.

Her life in the Udaan house

Although it was a bit difficult at first, both Lalita and Pari got involved very well into the dynamics of the house. Lalita participated in all the activities that have been proposed to her: from making roses, sewing training, etc. In addition to this, during her stay she obtained her driving license.

She enrolled in a beauty and makeup course until she became a professional beautician, prepared to make her career in a beauty salon.

Returning home after 20 years

Once healed and prepared for a better future, she asked us for one last favor: she wanted to find her family, whom she had not seen in 20 years. Our team headed to Bengaluru and after months of searching managed to find her mother.

Now she is returning home to her family after 20 years. It hasn’t been an easy journey, but Lalita is finally happy: Pari is enrolled in a new school and Lalita has found a job in a beauty salon.

We won’t lie if we tell you that the entire team has been very moved about her departure. We have seen her become empowered and Pari grow. For us, there is no better reward than seeing them return home; as they leave Udaan with their suitcases full of dreams to fulfill and a life full of new opportunities.

Thanks to your support and that of many other people from different places around the world, we can continue working with women like Lalita, helping them to return to a dignified, free and full life.

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• The story that we all want to share