Ghyangfedi, Nepal – On a cloudy day in October 2018, Nirmala Tamang, 24, was working in a field, gathering food for her family’s cattle. She cut the green leaves with her sickle, expertly bundling them together. In the background, she heard the gushing of a nearby waterfall and flow of the river through her village. Birds chirped from the trees.

Though tucked away in this bucolic setting northwest of Kathmandu, Nirmala (not her real name), lives in fear. A decade ago, Nirmala was sold by her first husband to a trafficker, and forced into a life of prostitution in neighboring India. The man convicted of trafficking Nirmala and charged with trafficking two other Nepalese women is a powerful local politician, Sun Bahadur Tamang. Activists say he may have trafficked more than 200 women from Nuwakot district and other parts of Nepal.

Ghyangfedi, Nepal – On a cloudy day in October 2018, Nirmala Tamang, 24, was working in a field, gathering food for her family’s cattle. She cut the green leaves with her sickle, expertly bundling them together. In the background, she heard the gushing of a nearby waterfall and flow of the river through her village. Birds chirped from the trees.

Nevertheless, the Supreme Court of Nepal cleared him of all charges and ordered his release on April 19, 2018, on the grounds that his accusers must have mistaken his identity. His release came as a shock to Nirmala.

“I am scared,” she says. “But I want justice.”

More: https://j4t.org/stories/trafficking-in-impunity/

https://100r.org/2019/02/trafficking-in-impunity/