Purnima

Purnima grew up in a very loving family, but her father passed away unexpectedly when she was still young. This threw the family into a financial crisis. Her older brother helped her complete grade 10, but they could not afford to keep her in school beyond that. They felt they couldn’t provide a future for Purnima, so they arranged for her to be married to a distant relative.

After getting married, Purnima moved to Delhi, India with her husband because his family lived there. He worked for Honda, and kept very busy working and didn’t spend time with Purnima. She was full of emotions having to leave her family and move away, and really struggled not having any connections or relationships. Still, she convinced herself to stay in the marriage.

Purnima’s living situation grew worse after her husband lost his job during the government lockdown due to Covid-19. He and his family were relentless asking her family to pay them a dowry and abused her verbally, emotionally, and physically. One day, Purnima called her mother to tell her what was going on. Her husband saw her on the phone and grabbed it, smashing it to pieces. She was so scared and so isolated.

Purnima was able to contact police who helped her find our partners and escape her abusive living situation. She filed a case against her husband for domestic violence and reunited with her family. While she was home, she was suffering from PTSD. The abuse had taken its toll, so it was decided Purnima would come back and stay at the Safe Home where she would have access to counseling and support, surrounded by other girls who would understand her struggles.

She now is residing at the Training Center and has taken an interest in cosmetology. She is excited to return home and open her own business.

“In the future, I'll go back to my town and open my own Beauty Salon. I will help other girls to speak against gender-based violence and make them aware of the dangers of human-trafficking. I want to give thanks for helping, supporting and guiding me. “