Social activist Sunita Danuwar, a prominent advocate for trafficking survivors, passed away on Monday morning. She was 47.

Her husband, Nrip Danuwar, said she was healthy on Sunday night but failed to wake up on Monday morning.

“She was fine when we went to bed after dinner on Sunday. The alarm rang at 5:30am, and I tried to wake her up, but she didn’t respond. Her hands were cold,” Nrip said. “We took her to the hospital by 5:45am, but the hospital declared her dead.”

Danuwar was a trafficking survivor and the founder and former president of Shakti Samuha. Since its establishment in 1996, the organisation has been empowering returnee trafficking survivors by providing shelter, legal aid, counselling, and vocational training.

She also authored the book ‘Aansuko Shakti’.

Her body has been kept at Nepal Medical College, Jorpati. She will be cremated at Pashupati Aryaghat after her family arrives from Udayapur.

Born on July 16, 1977, in Dailekh, Danuwar was honoured with the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2013 and the C-10 Award in 2014.