A Short Story about Durga Mala

A Short Story
Name:
Institution:
Durga Mala
Durga is 11 years old now and is the last born in a family of four siblings. She was born and schooled in Calcutta, India. She dropped out before joining second grade after the death of both her parents. Her father died from a chronic illness and her mother also died two years later. Durga’s grandmother took Durga together with her two other elder sisters and a younger brother into her house. The burden of feeding the family became too heavy for the old lady. She decided to sell one the children who turned out to be Durga. Child trafficking and child slavery is a common phenomenon in India. The family who bought Durga paid about 85 rupees which is equivalent to $1.5 via an agent. Durga travelled alone by train from Calcutta to Bangalore a distance of about 2500 kilometres. She narrates how she met a woman waiting for her upon arrival in Bangalore train station. "I was afraid but the woman told me that she was going to take good care of me." Durga was 7 years old when her grandmother sold her.
It is about noon when the police operating und...