For Sarita, escape from Naxal tailoring camp a stitch in time

On January 3, 2015, Sarita, along with best friends Roshni Wachami and Vaishali Veladi had left their Ashram school at Aheri to reach Perimilbhatti village about 25 km up on the hilly Maharashtra border with Chhattisgarh. Their disappearance led to an uproar with teachers getting suspended for allegedly scolding them.

Rumours were rife that the girls had eloped with some boys. Days later, it was confirmed they had joined Naxals in Narayanpur in Chhattisgarh and that Sarita and Vaishali had been tricked by Roshni to land in Naxal clutches. Roshni was allegedly given the task by her uncle, a Naxal.
“After reaching Perimilbhatti at night, we slept at Roshni’s relatives’ house. Next morning, Roshni said we will go for bath at a stream. When we reached there, we saw Naxalites, about 60-70 in numbers. They asked us to accompany them. I was clueless…but was afraid of them, so kept quietly following them. Days later, I was taken to a remote place that had a few tents. I was told to stay there and learn stitching from five others there. There were three men and two women with sewing machines. Since then, I had been staying at the tailoring camp,” Sarita said.

“The five persons had twelve-bore guns for self-defence and I was given one. I was trained to fire too.” For eleven months, Sarita spent her time with strangers stitching clothes.

Sarita found life away from home prison-like. The thought of returning home nagged her. A couple of months ago, the five members had gone for a walk along with her. The path remained etched on her mind and she firmed up her escape plan.

In Koyur, news of Sarita’s return reached police. “After listening to her story, we suggested it is in her best interest to surrender. It would not only relieve her of the liability of being part of Naxal activity but would also qualify her for all surrender benefits,” said Gadchiroli Superintendent of Police Sandip Patil. Police brought Sarita to Gadchiroli for surrender formalities. “We offered her parents that we would take care of her education at either Gadchiroli or Aheri. They agreed to keep her at Aheri,” Patil added.

Sarita hasn’t yet come out of the trauma. She speaks hesitantly. About Naxalism and its ideology, Sarita admittedly has no idea. Roshni and Vaishali remain untraced and Sarita hopes Vaishali too makes it back home.