Twenty one-year-old Tulasi Naik belongs to a remote tribal village called Nallaguttapalli in Andhra Pradesh’s Ananthapur district. From his childhood, he has been witness to young girls from his village being trafficked to Mumbai for prostitution. He also became aware that women who did stay behind were not spared either. They were physically and sexually exploited by upper caste men. In an effort to rehabilitate them and give them better lives, the government did make efforts to issue land pattas. But this infuriated the upper caste men who began attacking the women. The women fled in terror.

Tulsi Naik was appalled to hear the stories of horror that the women narrated. He gathered the women together and encouraged them to fight collectively for their rights. Emboldened, the women filed a case under the Scheduled Tribe Atrocities Prevention Act. The media highlighted the story of the tribal women’s unusual act of courage. As a result the men were brought to the police station and made to publicly apologise to the women.

Although just 18 then, Tulsi Naik, was determined to also better the living conditions of his village. He joined an organisation called Rural and Environment Development Society (REDS) and began to work on issues that were of critical importance to his village. He met with government officials and was successful in obtaining water and electricity for his village. He is now committed to rehabilitating the girls of the village sent to Pune for prostitution. Already eight of the 12 rescued girls have been successfully rehabilitated and have secured loans to run small shops in the village.