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Sunitha Krishnan is tiny, barely up to my shoulders. But she is a dynamo, a ball of energy and conviction working in Hyderabad and elsewhere at stopping trafficking of women and children helping to rehabilitate them and stop the children falling back into the prostitution racket. Over the last few months, I have been working with her on Nirbhaya, a committee to do similar work in Kerala, set up by CM Ooman Chandy. At our last meeting, Sunitha spoke of threats to her life, how she had been attacked last year by men wielding swords who tried to hack her neck. Trafficking is a very lucrative business and Sunitha, after years of working with the police and the authorities, was seeing results. More traffickers were being jailed facing prosecution and more rings were being cracked.

Three days ago I got an e-mail saying she was once again attacked by a large group of men with weapons. They had attacked one of their Sunitha's centres in the old city of Hyderabad, and had threatened to cut all of them into a million pieces. Sunitha was travelling but six of her women were beaten up badly.

"In order to prevent second generation prostitution, we have started many centres inside the old city. The areas were identified by prostitutes themselves. These centres are called transition centres and cater largely to children and women in prostitution. The centres aim to prepare children for mainstream education by providing quality scholastic and psychological skills. For over 10 years, we have run these centres, seven of them in the old city confidentially in these areas by restricting admissions to ensure the target audience gets maximum benefit. As centres were small, the restrictions were taken as a norm." It was one of these centres that was attacked.

Papers, next day, reported that the centres, which have won national recognition for their amazing work, were fraud NGOs to siphon foreign money. This made matters worse. Sunitha tried to speak to the community leaders but to no avail; they had scented blood. They kept repeating that women were being forced into prostitution by Prajwala and that Sunitha was trying to defame the Muslim community where the centre was located.

"After that the police intervened on our behalf in the community meeting that happened the following day in the presence of the local MIM corporator Aziz. The men of the community came together and took a decision that the centre has to be closed and the background undertaking to be returned/destroyed.

Interestingly, the local corporator (politician) had come with a private school management person who proposed to start a school in the same premises and all our children will be accommodated in the same."

In order to protect reputation of these centres, the staff decided to get all women, the prostitutes, to sign a paper saying that it was they who wanted their children to be saved from the trade and that they had entrusted them to Prajwala to help them settle down and go to mainstream schools. Almost 95% of the women signed.

Two women didn't and went to the community to say that women were being forced to sign false papers. The mosque that night announced this and all hell broke loose.

Today's e-mail says that they have had to close down all the centres for the moment. That the children are at the mercy of the community made them what they are. That Sunitha doesn't herself know if she will be able to communicate again.

At this juncture I want to point out to some coincidences:
"In last seven months, our rescues have become very strong and in last one month, through proactive judicial intervention, we are able to retain victims for rehabilitation in our home for over a year. This is a new development as previously the traffickers could get access to the victims by making false claims. Secondly, strong cases are being booked against traffickers and many of them are from the old city. And thirdly, all centres are located in prime properties in the old city which has been a target for the land mafia for some time now."

Is this shameful story about greed? About vested interests and big guys involved in the flesh trade which Sunitha threatens? Is it about collusion? Or is it about futility and personal risk of trying to stop grave misdeeds and crimes in India?

I leave the answer to you. All I can do is pray for my friend's safety and petition all those I can to intervene.

— The writer is a noted danseuse and social activist