Young Indian woman who grew up in Mumbai’s red-light district facing poverty and sexual abuse has overcome the odds to win a scholarship to study in New York.
Shweta Katti, 18, left for America to study at the liberal arts Bard College, where she hopes to read psychology.
Afterwards she wants to return to India and help other young women in her community.
Before leaving the Mumbai airport Shweta told her childhood dream got fulfilled.Katti’s willpower won her a place this year in Newsweek’s list of 25 ” Young Women To Watch” aged under-25, alongside Pakistani schoolgirl and activist Malala who was shot in the head by the Taliban.
“Men would ask to sleep with me, it was so embarrassing, but I had to face it.My father abused me, many people abused me, but my mum was with me always saying: ‘You are the best, you can do anything’.”
The teenager, who describes herself as “a tough-skinned girl”, said she faced discrimination “from all sides” at school because of her poor background and low caste status.She credits her mother, a factory worker, as her inspiration who helped to achieve her dreams.
