Manasi Shah | | Published 25.04.21, 12:58 AM
Shikha Mandi was barely four years old when she came to Calcutta from Jhargram’s Belpahari village. Her parents, both farmers, sent her to the city in the hope that she would get a better education, be safer than in a region routinely in the news for Maoist activity.
“My paternal uncle lived in north Calcutta’s Ariadaha with his family. I was told that my elder sister and I were going for a vacation. I was very eager to see a big city. The next thing I knew was that we would be living with them and not return to the village,” recalls Mandi.