She Got Married To Run Away From A Dysfunctional Home

Unfiltered Stories

Today on Unfiltered Stories, Alana Hergert shares her moving story of survival and transformation. Raised in extreme poverty in India, she lived in a one-room home, often lacking basic necessities like food and clean clothes. Moving frequently among relatives for support, Alana faced unimaginable challenges and received little affection from her parents. Her life took a pivotal turn when she met an American online, leading to a marriage that allowed her to escape her harsh upbringing. Join us to hear how Alana overcame difficult circumstances to build a new life.   #survivorstories #unfilteredstories #healingjourney   Thank you for watching Unfiltered Stories! We offer a platform for our guests to speak openly about their life stories and journeys, shedding light on the challenges they faced and the resilience they've shown.   Our mission is to raise awareness about survivors by delving into their stories, exploring the impact of their experiences, and how they've managed to heal and rebuild their lives.  By sharing these stories, we aim to break the silence surrounding those challenging memories and create a compassionate environment.   🌅 FOLLOW US 🌅  Facebook ➮ https://tinyurl.com/UnfilteredFB  Tiktok ➮ https://tinyurl.com/UnfilteredTT  Snapchat ➮ https://tinyurl.com/UnfilteredSN

Transcript

00:00My name is Alana Herket. I am 22 year old. I'm a stay-at-home mom and a wife. This

00:07story is about

00:08me growing up, going through all of this sexual assault unknowingly and being living in a survival

00:15mode whole my life. I remember growing up with my mom and with my dad. I remember we were living

00:22in

00:22a very small place. I didn't understand the poverty but I just lived there and I remember

00:27my grandfather used to live in the rooftop. We live in New Delhi. I walked whole my life. We don't

00:33have transport. I know there was air conditioners but we never had air conditioner. We have a ceiling

00:39fan and it doesn't matter how hot it got. We had to sleep in there. I don't remember having a

00:45bathroom. We had a small room and there was no bathroom, no kitchen. I don't remember eating

00:50meat. I don't remember eating vegetables. It was only rice with lentils in there. I didn't have

00:57clothes. I thought when I had a shower and my mom wanted to have a shower we had to travel

01:01to my

01:02uncle's house because they had a bathroom. I never saw currency, Indian currency in my household. I

01:09only saw coins. Those coins I kept it but never saw a currency in my mom's head. We had clothes

01:15that

01:15was given to me by my family relatives. Don't remember. I really didn't have any difference

01:20in my head because I thought that's it. That's how we lived. We started living in a slum area

01:25because we didn't have money to rent and it was very hard because you have no electricity in that

01:33area and the water is very hard. Living on an edge because my dad was not here. He's working. He's

01:44sleeping with my parents. Didn't have a life at all. I was content but my mom and dad I think

01:50I don't

01:51know if they didn't know how to show it but I never had a love experience. I didn't grow attached

01:55to them. There was like no family bonding time. I was five year old when we had a boy. Well

02:02before

02:02siblings I had a sister. My mom when my mom left my dad because he cheated on my mom. My

02:10mom found

02:13me into the life and when my mom got back after six months from my dad's house. My sister was

02:19very

02:20small but my mom had to go to work so we had a cousin who take care of us. She

02:24died because of my

02:25nutrition. After my mom found out she died I don't know I don't remember much of that but I do

02:30remember

02:31her. I do remember my sister a little bit. I don't remember what happened to my mom after that. I

02:35do

02:35remember my mom used to find dry milk and made a water put in the water mix it to feed

02:43me and on

02:44lentils a water rice water. We didn't have much money. After they got back together because my dad

02:51my dad was abandoned by the girlfriend. My mom got pregnant again with a boy. He only was able to

02:57live

02:58one day. He died in my mom's arms. That was time my mom started really praying to God because I

03:03remember

03:04my mom telling me that she actually saw a demon when my baby brother is dying in her arms. My

03:10mom

03:10was very upset with my dad because my mom was trying to wake my dad up and he was he

03:17didn't wake up at

03:18the time. He didn't listen to my mom and my mom was wanting to wake up. That time they had

03:23no

03:23transfer. They would have had to run to the hospital. Then after he died we did a funeral. I remember

03:30seeing

03:30his little body going out of my house and next day I remember the same day when they did the

03:35funeral.

03:36In India you have to do funeral after three days and they did the funeral. I saw my dad crying

03:41on

03:42his terrace and raising his hands up and praying to God and asking for a brother for a son. And

03:47right

03:48after that one year maybe I want to say like one year my mom and dad left me and for

03:53like maybe one

03:54a week and then my mom came back with him with a baby boy. I remember being like overall like

04:01I was

04:01so excited to be a sister but I was met with lots of neglect. My mom and dad was with

04:10him. I was I was

04:11my very big neglect at nights and morning. We had another family relatives that was very close to my

04:18dad. They were living right under them like they're on the first floor and they have their own house.

04:24He was my brother-in-law. He is 64 year old and he's my brother-in-law. Right in front

04:32of the house

04:33there's a shack and every evening he used to take me inside that shack. I remember just being froze

04:40and I feel I feel like my I feel the blur just went my body and he pulled my skirt

04:46up. I remember him

04:48going down there with his mouth. I didn't cry. I was there. I didn't say no. I didn't say stop.

04:56I saw him

04:57pulling his genital. That's the very first time I saw something like that. I do not remember him

05:04doing anything like he didn't try to push anything inside of me. That happened maybe twice or more and

05:13I remember like seeing my dad with him every family member with him. They were so good to me

05:20and to everyone and I know that what my family is going through too and kind of we need them.

05:26It was

05:26so crazy like my mom and dad is in the house that's what he's doing with me in the shack.

05:30I never understood

05:31it that nobody was looking for me but after three or four times one night his granddaughter

05:37walked in and she saw me. She said your mom is calling there. That was the end of it. When

05:43he died

05:43I remember my cousin sister looked at that in my eye. It was very silent but I felt like she's

05:50she was trying to see my reaction when he died. She cried but I was I really didn't care about

05:56him. As a

05:57five-year-old I would say I was never taught bad touch good touch. Nobody showed me I needed to

06:04protect

06:04myself and my dad never showed me that he will protect me. I don't know how to phrase it. It

06:09was weird but

06:10he was very much involved in what I will wear what I cannot wear. He put boys clothing on me.

06:17He

06:17kept me everything boys. I remember wearing a jeans a boy jeans where you sit down and you can see

06:24that

06:24you croat and it was so weird and I see other girls as it has a problem. This is weird.

06:30This is not

06:30girls. My dad got me shoes. My dad got me shirts. My mom never had a time. She never picked

06:37up one

06:38clothes for me ever. I remember my dad used to put his hands on my tie. Nobody told me okay

06:44nobody can

06:45touch you like that. Nobody can show you these things. My dad never gave me a sense of protection.

06:50I never had that connection with him that I can run up to him and say that he did something

06:56to me.

06:57I knew it. I can never be believed on. My mom and dad really doesn't have anything emotionally

07:02investment in me. I was get bullied. I was um mistreated by behind my parents back. They they

07:09said I am black. They used to shame my skin color because I was brown and he used to call

07:15me your

07:15skin is black nobody gonna marry you. I will greatly shame because of my lips how big they are. My

07:22mom

07:22used to sweat my hands whenever I used to touch my lips. I said don't do that. Your lips gonna

07:26grow

07:27bigger. I grew up my my parents telling me how I'm not beautiful. My dad told me how ugly I

07:34am. I grow

07:35closer to my aunt's daughter. She was very nice to me. They took us to church. That's the very first

07:41time

07:41I went to church and oh my gosh it was beautiful. We went on a Palm Sunday to a big

07:47truck. They filled

07:48everyone in there in a truck and we go in there. We sing gospel songs and there's a banners. People

07:54so I just rejoiced that day. I remember like being super happy but slowly slowly slowly they grew out

08:01of me. They don't want to give me too much food. They cut out my food. I used to sit

08:06in a very small

08:07place by the TV television so I won't see TV. They don't want me to see TV. They had a

08:13son and that son

08:15used to work outside but whenever he came back from his work he took the copper wires making like a

08:20rope together and he took me upstairs at the rooftop where all these water tanks are and he made me

08:27sit

08:28and he hit me on my ankles. He just hit me hit me until I'm crying and I have ankle

08:35ankle like my ankles

08:36are bleeding and they have scars and nobody really had a problem with that. They're living here and

08:42there's another relative living down here and this one boy afternoon came upstairs to the building

08:49and want to play with me and I want to play with them and he took that play out because

08:53he put me on his lap and he told me to put my hands under his pants. I liked that

09:00tension. I liked that

09:02he was going to be with me. I was very alone so I did it. I let him do it.

09:08I didn't tell anyone

09:10and then after that my mom and dad had to took me back. We went to our house at the

09:17very first time

09:17I saw a house, a kitchen, a bathroom. We moved there and we stayed there. As we're living there

09:22my dad enrolled me in a school. I started going to school. I met this girl. She took care of

09:27me

09:27and she was a tomboy. It was a good time. It was a very good time. I remember being with

09:33friends,

09:33meeting with them, eating their lunch, having a fun time. I loved going to school, loved learning,

09:39loved making new friends. I cut my hair short. I had long hair so I was a tomboy. At the

09:45age of I

09:46don't know how maybe 11 my dad moved again and they moved back to the same people who I used

09:53to live

09:53with when I got molested and they enrolled me in a Christian Catholic school. That's when my mom's

10:02sister-in-law came in the picture. Her son was like 16 by then. At that time I didn't have

10:09a sexual

10:09encounter but he told me he wanted me to be his girlfriend. Even the weird brother and sisters,

10:16he told me to be his girlfriend. He took me in a very dark places and he make out with

10:22me. I didn't

10:23like it. I never liked it but it kind of the attention that I was getting I always craved attention.

10:30He came in the picture. He is doing these things with me. He's sending me out. He loves me. He

10:37wants

10:37to marry me. He's telling me and he's doing this stuff with me until at the time of the Christmas

10:43we were at his place and he took me downstairs and he started taking my clothes off. Thankfully so,

10:49my mom and dad walked in and my mom was very suspicious of him. That time my mom had a

10:56very good

10:56relationship with God and I think God just showed her like this is not a good thing for me. My

11:01mom

11:02was terrified and I become rebellious. I just flee from my house. I left my brother by himself and

11:11I flee. I flee. I walked. I go to other people's house to be just around by people and that's

11:18how

11:18I was met this one guy. After all this molestation, people mistreating me, this guy actually talked to

11:25me. I cried with him. I told him what my dad did. He gave me food to eat. He'd take

11:31me out everywhere

11:32and then I just loved it. I just loved his attention. He started taking my shirt off and

11:40I felt with all my might to stop him. I was just crying and I'm making me stop, stop, stop.

11:48Don't

11:48do it. Don't do it. And he's muffling me. He's putting his hands on my mouth. He's making sure

11:52he's smacking me and he get off me and I'm putting my clothes off, whatever I can. I ran. I

11:58fall down

11:59on my stairs or on the road, concrete road. As I'm walking, as I'm running, I met my dad and

12:06he smacked me

12:07on my face. And all I can think is like, he doesn't care about me. And when I went to

12:11home,

12:12my mom beat me up and then I didn't have a time to mourn or grieve what happened to me.

12:18So I keep

12:18doing what I was doing. I met the same guy. We went to another park far, far away from my

12:24house.

12:25And that's when I know I made a very bad mistake. I don't know. He already had people there. Suddenly,

12:31these three guys showed up. He pushed me on the dirt and there was like poops there. I can smell

12:39it.

12:39There's no way out. I cried. I cried. And there's the another friend. He pulled his phone out. He

12:45started making my video as this guy is who I know for so many years. He's raping me. But he

12:52was not

12:53able to rape me. I think. I don't know what happened. He was not able. There was some barrier there.

12:58He was able to go much where he took my virginity. But he was not able to go deeper. I

13:06think he was

13:06not able to move. He said, I don't know what's up. So he abused me. He called me names. He

13:12kicked me.

13:13And he said, I don't know what's up. I can't do it. He was frustrated that he was not able

13:17to do it.

13:18So he asked someone else. He said, you do it. This boy is most like 14 or 13 years old.

13:24He's not even

13:24grew up. He said, Hey, get up. And he made me get up, put my clothes on. And it's like,

13:29let's go.

13:29My dad was dominating. He started abusing. My mom abused me. They beat me up until I cried. And I

13:36kind of didn't care about them. So I started smoking cigarettes. I ended up in a relationship

13:41with the same cousin who molested me whole my childhood. And my mom and dad found out my dad

13:47cut me off from everyone. No school, no, nothing. I never had a phone. So I was isolated. My dad

13:54came

13:54and looked at me. He said, you disgust me. I hope you have died. When I was 19 years old,

13:59I said, I'm

14:00going to go and going to find a job as a sales girls because I love sales and I'm going

14:04to make my life in

14:05a sale. I loved it. In 2021, I met my husband, but it was so weird because in India, like

14:14most of the

14:14people you met online, they're fraud. I sent him a message because I used to everyone. I said,

14:19if you need a prayer, I'm sending a message. He sent me a very cute message. I'm like, okay,

14:23we're talking slowly, slowly. We talked three in the morning. I talked to him. I just looked after

14:28we're done with talking. I said, God, no, he's handsome. He he's intelligent. He's Christian. He's

14:37like my kind of person. He's breathtaking. He's too good to be true. Then he talked to my mom.

14:44He said, I want to marry your daughter. My dad had a very big plan. He said, you're going to

14:49marry

14:49him and you're going to call us in America. My husband went ahead and offered money. He said,

14:55I know you guys can't afford a wedding drink and wedding. We turned around and we asked my dad,

15:00where's the money so we can use for tickets? And he said, what money? The money that Tim sent you,

15:06money. I don't have money. I spent it. On December 2nd,

15:11I flew out from India for the very first time. I never left my own hometown and I left for

15:19the first

15:20time. I went through the immigration. I was so scared and I sat down and I, I gripped my seat

15:28as they're taking off and I was shaking. And now I said in Jesus name, I will not die. I

15:33will not die.

15:34It was an amazing day. And he proposed me, even though we knew we were going to get married and

15:39we got married and I came back to India and my mom and dad was changed. They started abusing me

15:47physically. They want to know everything. And before I left India to meet my husband,

15:52my mom said, if you got pregnant, I'm going to kill you. And now I am here with my husband

15:56and

15:57with my family. I haven't talked to them. I do not know where they live. I don't know what they're

16:03doing. I don't, don't have any contact with them. They still message my mother-in-law. They try to get

16:08hold of me. They message me, but I blocked them from my Facebook. I blocked them from Instagram.

16:13I had an amazing relationship with God and God said, do not go back.

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