From serfdom to politics in Pakistan
When Veero Kolhi (centre) made the asset declaration required of candidates for Pakistan's May elections, her modest list included the following items: two beds, five mattresses, cooking pots and a bank account with life savings of 2,800 rupees ($28). Kolhi cuts an unusual figure on the campaign trail, and not just because of her lack of personal wealth - she is the first contestant to have escaped the thrall of a feudal-style landowner who forced workers to toil in conditions akin to modern-day slavery.
A sturdy matriarch in her mid-50s who has 20 grandchildren, Kolhi - a member of Pakistan's tiny Hindu minority - is the ultimate outsider in an electoral landscape dominated by wealthy male candidates fluent in the art of back room deals.
Possessed of a ready, raucous laugh, but unable to write more than her name, Kolhi was once a "bonded labourer," the term used in Pakistan for an illegal but widely prevalent form of contemporary serfdom in which entire families toil for years to pay often spurious debts.
Lalee Kolhi (centre) is another former bonded labourer turned activist. She says the situation may be improving: "The landlords are afraid of court cases so they do not abuse and torture people as much as before."
Manoo Bheel, also a freed bonded labourer, poses for a picture at his home. Although work has been done to rescue many indebted workers, several estimates put the total figure in Pakistan at roughly 8 million.
Veero Kolhi talks to a supporter at a camp for freed bonded labourers during her election campaign.
Thakaro Bheel, 26, and his wife Nasseba, 20 pose for a photograph with their children. "Once I only drank black tea, but now I am free I can afford tea with milk," said Bheel, who escaped from his landlord a decade ago. "These days I make my own decisions. All that is thanks to Veero."
Even out of serfdom, life can be hard. At a camp for freed bonded labourers, 40-year-old Jeandi stands outside her house, which is made of bushes.
Veero Kolhi speaks to a supporter on the campaign trail.
She receives her election nomination papers at the district court in the city of Hyderabad.
She makes a victory sign as she and her supporters chant slogans during the election campaign. When Kolhi launched her shot at office, she said: "We will continue our struggle until the last bonded labourer is freed."
