By: Rahul Agarwal
Telecast: 10.30 pm, September 20, Saturday
Repeat Telecast: 4.30 pm, September 24, Thursday Nepalese girls are found in every brothel - be it in Sonagachi in Kolkata , GB road in New Delhi or Moolganj of Kanpur .But country`s second largest state Uttar Pradesh`s international border district Maharjganj, is the first doorstep for these poor girls who enter into the Indian territory . The porous Indo-Nepalese border has of late become a conduit for trafficking of teenage Nepalese girls who are lured to India with promises of jobs but end up landing in Indian brothels. About 7000 Nepalese girls are brought into India every year. The pimps bring these girls to India on the pretext of giving them good jobs, but they are sold for anything between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000 and then supplied to the brothels across the country. The nefarious practice of flesh-trade and sex exploitation is not confined to the territorial limits of this country. The well-established practice of importing poor girls from neighbouring nations into the vice dens of big cities in India where brothels are run on a large scale is a flourishing trade. In a land where a sheep costs Rs 1,000 and a cow almost Rs 14,000 , a girl is available for half the cost of above. What is astonishing is the way these women are sold off. Once the touts get the girls, word is spread among prospective customers from far areas . The customers are shown the girl and they give their rates. Within three to four days of this " showing off" of the girls, they are sold to the highest bidder. The case of Tulsa , a minor Nepali girl highlights this practice. She was kidnapped from Thankot, a village in Nepal, brought to Mumbai and sold to the brokers operating in the red-light area of the city. After being brutally used and abused, they contracted many venereal diseases due to continuous sexual exploitation. And when she became unfit and non-saleable in the brothel, she was kicked out and left on the streets. Fortunately, she was admitted to the government hospital by a philanthropist, who also informed her family in Nepal about her . But like Tulsa, not every girl is propitious and an ugly life is destined for them. The continuous fear of torture by brothel operators looms large over them, their rights get rusted by dilution of enforcement efficiency and apathy . Although the police officials are aware of this flourishing trade, S P Maharajganj says, "Trafficking in person is illegal and highly profitable recruitment. Transport, or sale of human beings for the purpose of exploiting their labor is a slavery like practice that must be eliminated." Traffickers use coercive tactics to transport women with promises of good jobs in other countries. Although police claims that a regular drive is commenced to check this inter border trafficking, the trade runs unabated.
The height of inefficiency in the system is revealed by the nexus between criminal dons and top officials. And when custodians of law are hand in glove with those who are actually running the whole criminal show, one can only pray for the fate of these poor girls.