Basanta Sharma Pandit is the mother of two children from Dang. She was accused of killing her stepson and sent to the prison. Her stepson went missing for 4 days and was eventually found dead on the bank of a river some kilometers from her home. The villagers accused her of drowning the boy and during the investigation, she was found guilty and was prisoned. The younger of her two children, went with her to live in the prison. At the time, her husband supported her, saying she had not killed the child.
But after she was in the prison for a year, the villagers poisoned his mind and convinced him that Basanta had really killed the child and that was why she was found guilty. They even said that as Basanta was a criminal, so she would be prisoned for 20 years . Eventually, he married another woman. After two years in prison, Basanta was proven not guilty. But by then, her husband had already married and had another child.
Basanta stayed at her mother’s home for some time . Basanta then wanted to do something on her own for her living. In January 2005, Basanta came with her son to live at the SETU halfway home and received training on sewing in order to earn her living as a tailor. Her son was enrolled at Sundar Shreesti Boarding High School after he came to SETU. She also wanted to bring her daughter, but her husband didn't allow her. Basanta successfully completed two training courses on hand knitting and sewing at the Kumbeshwar Technical School.
In February 2006,after learning sewing and knitting, Basanta left SETU halfway home. She and her son now lives at Gongabu. She has opened her own tailoring shop. Her son attends school at National modal science school. Now Basanta is working in one of the hostel nearby her home as a helper and also works in her own tailor shop.She is now living an independent life earning herself and taking care of her daughter.Her daughter is also studying in a well known academic instituition and doing quite well in her studies.