KBC contestant threatened for waging war against sex trafficking

An intrepid woman who has been waging a war against sex traffickers in Bihar for several years is at the receiving end of threatening calls these days.

Fatima Khatoon, who shot into limelight last year after she appeared on Amitabh Bachchan's popular game show, Kaun Banga Crorepati along with Bollywood actress Rani Mukherjee, has filed a complaint with the Forbesganj police station in Araria district after she received several calls from an unidentified person in the past one week.

In her complaint, she said that the caller had threatened to kill her and destroy her house. She also provided all the three mobile numbers, from which the calls were made, to the police.

Fatima, who had won Rs 25 lakh on the game show hosted by Amitabh Bachchan, has so far been instrumental in rescuing more than 35 young girls from the prostitution racket in and around Araria district. She had appeared on the television show to tell her story to the world.

Fatima was married at the age of nine to a 40-year-old man who ran a brothel with the help of his mother and other family members at Forbesganj, a subdivisional town in Araria district. She tried to run away from her in-laws' place four times but was forced by her parents to return. After giving birth to six children in 10 years, she finally joined a voluntary organisation called Apne Aap Women Worldwide which was working against the sex trafficking in the area.

Her decision angered Fatima's husband but she showed her resolve to continue her crusade. She went on to educate her daughters and became an icon for her spirited fight against sex traffickers. She also opened a school for the children of the trafficked women and helped convert many brothels into normal homes over the years.

"I wanted to talk about my past as well as my present - how struggle makes you strong. KBC provided me the platform," she had said.

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