Kumar is a Dalit boy. He is considered an “untouchable” and an “outcast” or even a “slumdog.” Dalits comprise nearly one quarter of India’s society, with population estimates of 250 million people. Kumar is growing up in a society that tries to deny him his basic human rights, and even his identity, as a human being.

Rejection, humiliation, discrimination, violence, and even hunger are challenges that Kumar is hammered with every day. He sometimes goes to school, but usually he is segregated from the rest of his class and spends his day cleaning the school toilets. Kumar also fears that any day he could be enslaved through human trafficking like he’s seen some of his friends disappear into.

The Dalits, according to the most reliable research and reports, constitute the largest number of people categorized as victims of modern-day slavery. Kumar is one small boy in a sea of Dalits, but he is one who would like to tell you some of his story.