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Writer's pictureMala Malstead

Finding Jaya, Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh

When social worker Anjana called Jaya from Lalganj Kanjar Basti in Mirzapur, UP, she learned that Jaya and her family were running out of food.  Jaya was rescued from the Meerut red light area in 2016, and Anjana was concerned for her and her family's well-being.  Anjana was unable to get in touch with the grocer near Jaya’s house. Jaya would need to go to the shop to gather and pass on the grocer's information to Anjana.


At first, the grocer didn't want to cooperate, so Jaya couldn’t get his number and share it with Anjana. When Anjana finally got the grocer on the phone, explained Jaya’s situation and asked for his account number so she could pay him online for food supplies, he admitted he didn’t have a bank account. 


Fortunately, his brother did have an account.  After getting the brother's number, Anjana explained Jaya’s situation to him and asked for his account number.  He was confused because there were two girls by the name of Jaya in the same village, which one wanted the food supplies?  Anjana described Jaya. He said he would go to Jaya’s house and Anjana could call and confirm if it was the correct girl. As soon as he messaged Anjana that he reached Jaya’s house,  she started a video call. There were five girls in that house including a Jaya but it wasn’t the Jaya that Anjana was looking for. He went to the other Jaya’s house and handed over the provisions. When Anjana called Jaya, she said that she and her family were very grateful for the provisions.  Anjana transferred the money to the grocer’s brother and thanked him for his help.


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