Dr Sunitha Krishnan Age, Husband, Children, Family, Biography & More

Bio/Wiki
Profession	Indian Social Activist
Famous For	Being the co-founder of Prajwala- an NGO that helps in the rehabilitation of sex-trafficked victims
Career
Awards, Honours, Achievements	• Ashoka Fellowship, 2002. • Stree Shakti Puraskar, Government of India, 2003. • CNN-IBN Real Hero Award, Reliance Foundation, 2008. • Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report Heroes from US Department of State, 2009. • Tejaswini Award, FICCI, 2010. • Human Rights Award, Vital Voices Global Partnership, Washington DC, 2011 • Godfrey Phillips National Amodini Award, 2013. • Mahila Thilakam Award, Government of Kerala, 2013. • Outstanding Woman Award, National Commission for Women, 2013. • Mother Teresa Awards for Social Justice, 2014 • People of the Year award from LIMCA Book of Records, 2014. • Padma Shri in the field of Social Work, 2016. • Franco-German Award For Human Rights & Rule of law, 2017 Note: She has many more awards and honours to her name.
Personal Life
Date of Birth	23 May 1969 (Friday)
Age (as in 2019)	50 Years
Birthplace	Bangalore, Karnataka
Zodiac sign	Gemini
Signature	Bangalore, Karnataka
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Hyderabad, Telangana
School	Kendriya Vidyalaya Waltair, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh
College/University	• St. Joseph's College, Bangalore • Yenepoya University, Mangalore, Karnataka
Educational Qualification(s)	• Master of Social Work • PhD
Address	20-4-34, III Floor, Behind Charminar Bus Stand, Charminar, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh
Hobbies	Reading Books and Travelling
Controversy	Her campaign '#ShameTheRapist' created controversy in the media, where people used to share the rape videos on WhatsApp. [1]First Post
Relationships & More
Marital Status	Married
Family
Husband/Spouse	Rajesh Touchriver (Indian Film Director)
Parents	Father- Raju Krishnan (Employee of the Department of Survey, India) Mother- Nalini Krishnan

Some Lesser Known Facts About Dr Sunitha Krishnan 

• Sunitha Krishnan is a well known Indian social activists working against human trafficking.

• She was born into a Palakkad Malayali family in Bangalore.

• She was born disabled, her legs were turned behind, but after regular sessions of physiotherapy, she was able to walk.

• At the age of eight, she started giving dance lessons to the mentally challenged children. When she was 12 years old, she started a school in the slum area for needy children. Her life changed miserably at the age of 15 when she was gang-raped by eight men, while she was working on a neo-literacy campaign for the Dalits. They did not like the fact that a woman is interfering in the so-called ‘male-dominated society.’ She was even beaten by them so badly that she became partially deaf in one ear.

• She was depressed after this incident, but she took it as a motivation and started working against human trafficking, helping rape victims, and providing help to women in India.

• In 1996, she was arrested with other activists for protesting against the staging of Miss World competition in Bangalore.

• Later, she associated with Brother Varghese Theckanath, who was a social activist too. He was also a member of Montfort Brothers of St. Gabriel and founded People’s Initiative Network (PIN) in Hyderabad; working for the benefit of people living in the slum area.
  

  An Old Picture of Sunitha Krishnan with Brother Varghese Theckanath

• Krishnan’s parents were not happy with her lifestyle, so, she decided to move to Hyderabad and joined the People’s Initiative Network (PIN).

• In 1996, she helped in evacuating the prostitutes from the red light area named- Mehboob ki Mehandi, and to provide a better future to these women, she started a school at the vacated brothel, which was later named as ‘Prajwala.’

• Prajwala is based on five pillars- Prevention, Protection, Rescue, Rehabilitation, and Reintegration. This organisation has helped more than 12,000 survivors of human trafficking and provides them training in carpentry, welding, printing, masonry, and housekeeping.
  

  Sunitha Krishnan with Prajwala’s Employees

• In 2003, the Andhra Pradesh Government passed the recommendations drafted by Sunitha for the rehabilitation of victims of human trafficking. They drafted it as a Policy for Rescue & Rehabilitation of Victims of Trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation vide GO MS 1.

• In 2009, she gave a speech on human trafficking at the Infosys Campus of Mysore in the conference of TED India, which went viral on YouTube.
  

• In 2011, she was appointed as the advisor for the Government of Kerala’s Nirbhaya Policy for Women and Children, but she resigned on 4 August 2014; as she was not satisfied with their working and policies. In 2015, she was reappointed by giving her more authority to make decisions.

• Thereafter, she went to hold various campaigns and seminars nationally and internationally to educate people more about human trafficking.

• In 2012, she appeared on Aamir Khan’s television show Satyamev Jayate, which was aired on Star Plus.
  

  Sunitha Krishnan in Satyamev Jayate

• In 2012, a document named ‘The Shattered Innocence’ was published by Krishnan and Brother Jose Vetticatil. She has published various books on human trafficking.

• In 2013, she was elected as a member of the Andhra Pradesh State Women’s Commission for contributing in drafting India’s new bill on rape.

• She has also worked for the first-ever Crises Counseling Centre in Afzalgunj Police Station, Hyderabad–a pilot project for Police-NGO collaboration to stop human trafficking.

• She conceptualised and co-produced a few documentaries based on human trafficking, HIV AIDS, Sheikh Marriages, incest, and prostitution which includes- ‘Mein Aur Meri Sanchaien,’ ‘The Man, His Mission,’ and ‘Astha – An Ode to Life Naa Bangaru Talli.’

• She said in an interview that her journey was not easy; as she faced threat messages and life-threatening attacks.

• In 2019, Sunitha, along with her husband, Rajesh Touchriver, appeared in the ‘Karmaveer’ episode (18 October 2019) of Kaun Banega Crorepati 11 (2019).