Girl trafficked 25 years ago urges police to trace her parents

She settled at Kanchivanam in Tamil Nadu, and attended ‘Spandana’ programme

A 32-year-old woman, who was allegedly sold away by an unidentified person in the city and settled in Tamil Nadu 25 years ago, sprang a surprise at the ‘Spandana’ programme conducted by the police on Monday.

She urged Police Commissioner Ch. Dwaraka Tirumala Rao to trace her family members.

Interestingly, the trafficking incident came to light one day after the reunion of ‘Spoorthi’, who went missing 14 years ago from the city through a social media group. The Krishna district Child Welfare Committee (CWC) handed over 17-year-old ‘Spoorthi’ to her biological parents on Sunday.

The victim, K. Latha, a resident of Tiruvalluvar Nagar, Thanakkankulam in Madurai district, (called as Adi Lakshmi when she was in Andhra Pradesh) attended the ‘Spandana’ programma on Monday at the Police Commissionerate here, along with her husband, and narrated her sorry tale in Tamil language.

Mr. Tirumala Rao immediately arranged an interpretor and heard the story of Adi Lakshmi. She explained that she escaped from home when she was seven years old as her parents chided her to go to school and went to Vijayawada bus station.

A trafficker, who befriended her, allegedly sold her away to a family of Tamil Nadu. The family took her to Kanchivanam n Tamil Nadu and bought her up and married her off to a local person, the woman explained.

Family

Ms. Adi Lakshmi recalled that her parents were Chanchamma and Narayana, and her brothers were Nooka Raju and Durga Raju. Her father was an auto driver. The foster parents named her as Latha, she said, but could not recall the residential address of her family in Vijayawada.

The Police Commissioner urged the media and the public to help Ms. Adi Lakshmi in tracing her family in Andhra Pradesh.

Meanwhile, the incident brought to light the trafficking that occurred in the city 25 years back, with Adi Lakshmi’s incident.

“Police will make all efforts to trace the family of Adi Lakshmi. She was studying third standard when she was sold away by the trafficker,” Mr. Tirumala Rao said.