September twenty-second, 2014, the house is oddly quiet.

Simran wakes up from the

silence. Mrs. Hardeep, Simran's mom is usually sleeping on the bed opposite Simran, but this

morning she was not there. Sunny, Simran’s brother, bursts into the room “Sister! Sister!” he

screams, “we have a visitor”. Simran gets up immediately, “it is a Monday morning we are not

expecting anyone” she responds. In her sleeping gown, she gets out of bed and goes into the

common room. The first thing she sees, a man is sitting at the edge of the table, his white beard

so long it could almost touch the floor. “Sit behta” says her dad, although extremely confused

Simran listens to the instructions. “This is our good friend Vishwajeet. he traveled all the way

from Kalkatar just to meet you”. In a timid voice, Simran barely responds “hi.” You just turned

sixteen which means you are now an adult”.The air in the room thickens. “You are going to live

with Vishwajeet, he will take care of you and you two will start a beautiful family together”. In

pure disbelief Simran runs back to her room and locks the door. Looking around she notices the

empty closet and missing suitcases. “They packed up all my things, I have to get out of here”

she thinks to herself.

With little time to spare, Simran musters up a plan to escape. She knows this will be the

last time she can come home or see her family. With nothing but the pajamas on her back,

Simran climbs out the window and lands on the patty fields. Sprinting through the long prickly

leaves, she does not look back. Not having any idea of where it may take her, Simran climbs

onto the first railroad train she sees and hides in one of the open crates. Three hours go by and

she wakes up to a woman tapping her on the shoulder “Hey girl, are you okay” she says quietly.

Not wanting to attract attention the woman tells simran to be quiet and to follow her. They go

into a small secluded room where Simran explains everything. “You have to be careful here,

these men enslaved my daughter and me, and we have been trying to escape from them”.

Ashwin, who is the woman's daughter, runs whispering “mama they are looking for you”. “Wait

here I will come back,” she tells Simran. One hour passes and the woman comes back with
nothing but a towel barely covering her body and blue and black marks fresh on her face.

Simran screams “What did they do to you” with no energy left in her voice the woman responds

“if you don't leave now they will do the same to you”

The train comes to a sudden stop and the lights turn on “this is our chance we have to

get out of here” Simran yells. They spot a small broken window and start running towards it,

Simran jumps out first and then the woman. Ashwin stickers her foot out, and just as she was

about to jump a man grabs her by the hair. “Run Mama Run” she yells and fights to stop the

man from chasing after Simran and her mother. The girls manage to hide in the nearby slums

where they cannot be seen. “I need to get my baby back, please you don't know what they will

do to her”. “I promise you we will get Ashwin back no matter what it takes” Simran firmly

responds. The rumbling of the train vibrates through the dirt and the sky fills with smoke, the

train speeds off and disappears into the pollution-filled air. “How will we ever know where they

are going next? We don't even know where we are now” the woman yells with tears falling from

her face.

Simaran spots a nearby police station and they decide to ask for help. “My name is

Simran Kaur Bachan” and I want to report a case of sex trafficking, rape, and abuse. The officer

is caught off-guard “how old are you beta” he asks. Hesitant to tell him her real age simran says

“eighteen”. “My daughter has been taken from me, a bunch of men working the railroad trade

broke into our house and took us from my husband and son, they rape us every day and leave

us starving like were nothing. I manage to escape but Ashwin, my baby is still there. Please, you

have to help us! You cannot imagine what they are doing to her right now” the woman pleads to

the officer. With anger in his eyes the officer calls for backup and takes the two girls in a police

van. “The train that just passed here is headed to Punjab next, we have to catch them before

they reach the border. Let's pray we make it to them on time.”

 The two girls and three officers make their way through the rocky secluded mountains

praying they don't fall off the thin roads. There is no guarantee they will catch the train on time

before it departs past the border, it is up to god they make it. The girls don't have a choice but to

believe the officers are on their side and not secretly conversing with the kidnappers, which

often happens. Days go by not knowing where they are,how long their journey will last, or if they

are even going in the right direction. Suddenly, the van stopped “WE’RE HERE” the officer

yelled, “you girls stay in the van and we will get your daughter”. The men rush towards the train

with their guns fully loaded and kick down the door. A sudden piercing scream fills the air and all

you can see are women fleeing out of the pitch-black train. Scared but determined, the woman

says “I cannot just sit here, I need to find my daughter,” she runs out of the van. Simran follows

her and what she sees next is beyond horrifying, she wishes she never ran away from her

family.