Mortgage default by landlord renders vulnerable young women homeless

Mumbai: While it is well documented how landlords often discriminate against members of certain communities and single people in this city, housing societies are much less welcoming to women associated with Kranti, a 12-year-old NGO that rescues and rehabilitates trafficked people. The group – the youngest of whom is now 15 years old – has had to relocate seven times in the last years – eight times as of April 13, when they were evicted from their Santacruz residence as the landlord defaulted on a mortgage payment.

Left in the lurch, without shelter and without access to clothes, official documents and essential medicines, the group has posted an impassioned and urgent plea for help on crowdfunding site Milaap. https://milaap.org/fundraisers/support-survivors-of-trafficking.

“Kranti [the NGO] has been paying ₹62,000 per month towards rent for four years,” says Robin Chaurasiya, who co-founded the NGO. “It’s the first time we have lived in one place for so long. This was possible because this building doesn’t house families,” she says. The property in Krishna Villa building at Santacruz (W) has been at the centre of a legal battle for some years, and Chaurasiya says legal notices have been spotted on the premises thrice or four times over these years, “but nothing ever happened, so we had no reason to suspect they would take such immediate action.”

At about 1pm on April 13, armed with an order from the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Esplanade, four representatives of Mogaveera Co-Operative Bank Ltd, one representative of the court and two police officers asked the women to vacate the premises. “At first, we were shocked; we couldn’t fully understand what was happening and we scrambled to find solutions,” recalls Tara-Shweta Katti, who works with Kranti. “In the meantime, the cops called for assistance and about a dozen women police officers came in. They physically forced us to leave. By 3.30pm, we were homeless”, says Katti.

Well-wishers have, since, stepped in to help the women find temporary accommodations in homes and huts across the city. “One activist I called said we have the right to stay put, but the problem is we have no locks on the doors at the apartment as some of the girls have tried to inflict self-harm in the past – so there was no way to lock ourselves in and stay. Then, the cops gave us five minutes to pack up and leave,” adds Chaurasiya, who fears that the inability to access their belongings, including vital medicines, may cause irreparable harm.

“One girl has received a scholarship from an educational institution in Denmark, and without her passport, which is locked in that apartment, she stands to lose out on that opportunity. Some others have left their medicines behind in the rush, and these include antipsychotics that keep a few girls from inflicting self-harm, as well as HIV meds,” Chaurasiya shares. “Two other girls are expected to return from scholarship programmes in Denmark and Amsterdam soon. Where will they go?” she adds.

Kranti empowers women and children from these communities with a very personalised form of education. The efficacy of their model has drawn international attention. Top educational institutions have extended scholarship programmes to ‘Krantikaris’. For example, Katti, who is one of the organisation’s early success stories, bagged a scholarship at Bard College in the US and received the United Nations Youth Courage Award in 2014. In 2019, the Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and the Rule of Law was conferred upon Chaurasiya for her work.

But for all that, the organisation has found inadequate support at home. “Now what? Must I send them back to live in the red-light areas we pulled them out of?” Chaurasiya asks, wondering if help will come through in time.

“The larger issue here is of public apathy,” says Chaurasiya, who studied psychology and political science in the US, then served as a Lieutenant in the United States Air Force before she started Kranti. “They are not my children. I am trying to help these women who have been let down by society and exploited at every turn. Doesn’t our society have any obligation to help these women who are trying to break out of this vicious trap?” she asks.

Currently, the NGO is engaging in talks with the bank, hoping to impress on officials the need for a more lenient approach. Chaurasiya also hopes the public will sympathise once they understand the gravity of the current situation. “I hope and pray that people who read this will pitch in to help us,” she says.