At the age of 20, Zhang Chunli had never set foot outside Zhongjiang, the nearest town to her small village in Sichuan province . So, when the man she had just started dating offered to take her for a weekend trip to his hometown, she jumped at the chance. Chen was good looking and making a good living removing verrucas from farmers' feet.
Her 'boyfriend' and his friends lured Ms Zhang to Hohhot in Inner Mongolia , thousands of kilometres to the north. Sensing something was not right, Ms Zhang demanded to be taken back, but the men claimed to have run out of money. Chen took her to a farmer's home in a desert village, supposedly to borrow money.
'When Chen readied himself to go, I got up, too, but the family pushed me down. I didn't understand what they were saying. Then the hard truth hit me: I had been sold for 3,600 yuan [HK$4,100],' she recalled.
Ms Zhang's story is a common one. Every year, thousands of mainland women are kidnapped and sold to farmers as their wives. The central government has launched numerous campaigns against human trafficking, featuring highly publicised arrests and heavy sentences against the kidnappers. In October, the Ministry of Public Security announced that it was working with 26 ministries on further measures to fight trafficking in women and children, following the adoption of the National Plan of Action to Combat Human Trafficking last January.
However, despite these campaigns, the practice still thrives in rural areas.
'The 32 months was hell,' Ms Zhang said, wiping tears from her round face as she sat in her bare, small flat in Zhongjiang. On the first night, Bai Jinquan, her buyer, climbed into her bed. 'He was so dirty, smelly and old - I never knew how old he was, too old for me anyway. I was scared to death.'
She fought him off. The next day, Ms Zhang realised that she had become a prisoner. She was followed everywhere. She begged to be freed. That night, she attempted to escape but was soon caught. Bai dragged her back by her feet, beat her unconscious, then raped her.