Lakshmi

Lakshmi is a nine-year-old beedi (cigarette) roller:

"My sister is ten years old. Every morning at seven she goes to the bonded labor man, and every night at nine she comes home. He treats her badly; he hits her if he thinks she is working slowly or if she talks to the other children, he yells at her, he comes looking for her if she is sick and cannot go to work. I feel this is very difficult for her.

"I don't care about school or playing. I don't care about any of that. All I want is to bring my sister home from the bonded labor man. For 600 rupees I can bring her home…that is our only chance to get her back.

"We don't have 600 rupees . . . we will never have 600 rupees." (Six hundred rupees is the equivalent of approximately $13).

-"The Small Hands of Slavery", Human Rights Watch

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