Pushed into flesh trade by parents,tribal women break shackles

Come Saturday, it will be the dawn of a new life for Madhu and 20 other women from a tribal community that has been pushing its daughters into flesh trade under an age-old practice and not allowing them to get married.
The women belong to Kanjar nomadic tribe, an ostracised and downtrodden community where the females are usually the sole bread earners.
The girls are forced into prostitution by their parents who do not want them to get married. With changing times, the members of the tribe have taken to criminal activities like illicit liquor trade. The women are sold to brothels or pimps who make them work in dance bars in cities, police officials said.

"I have been sold three times. I just want to get out of this hell and live a respectable life," says a teary-eyed Madhu (name changed).
Thanks to the efforts of local authorities, police and activists, 21 of these women now have the opportunity to change their lives. The women will tie the knot with youths from their community at a mass marriage ceremony on May 6 in their native place in Ramnagar village, about 10 kilometres away from Bundi district headquarter.
Efforts are also on to make these women economically independent by enrolling them in various government schemes.

Some ofthese girls were forced into prostitution here, while others have been rescued from different areas of Bundi and Swai Madhopur. They were sent to Woman Shelter Home in Kota, said Kaniz Fatima, an official at Anti Human Trafficking Cell here.

According to Sunil Kumar Vishonai, Superintendent of Police, Bundi, awareness camps were organised by them where women from the community were convinced that they too can join the social mainstream.
"These women, who had been pushed into flesh trade, submitted written consent for marriage to the district administration. Now 21 Kanjar 'balas' (girls) are set to be married at the ceremony at Ramnagar Kanjar Basti on May 6," he said.
During counselling, the women expressed their desire to lead a respectable life. They wanted to get married and gave a written consent for the same, Fatima said.
Following this, police and district administration initiated efforts to organise a mass marriage ceremony for them.

The men from the community, who will be tying the knot, are also glad to be part of the social change.
"I am happy that I can now marry the girl I love. I had little hope of ever formally tying the knot with her and giving her the life she wanted," said Randeep (name changed).
Suman, who too will get married at the event, says she has made arrangements to rent a house far away from their tribal settlement. "I do not want my children to suffer as I have," she said.
A meeting presided by district collector Naresh Kumar Thakaral was held last month to arrange funds for the event and to gift household items to the couples, Fatima said.

District collector Naresh Kumar Thakaral and Superintendent of Police Sunil Kumar Vishnoi announced financial aid of Rs 15,000 and 11,000 respectively.
Around 60 social organisations and individuals have contributed to the event, SP Vishonai said.
Thakral has formed two separate committees to supervise the preparation for the marriage ceremony of these girls, Fatima said.
Under the age-old tradition called 'Chaari Pratha', parents sometimes sell off their daughters for lakhs of rupees and even "mortgage" them for a specific period of time.
"If a Kanjar girl gets married and becomes a wife, she is never forced into flesh trade," Vishonai said.

Those raising their voice against the custom used to incur the wrath of 'panchs' (elders) of the community who would impose heavy fines amounting to lakhs of rupees.
Seeking to put an end to the practice, the district legal literacy cell and anti-human trafficking cell in Rajasthan's Bundi district last year held a meeting with around 150 community members, including women and youths, from three Kanjar-dominated villages - Ramnagar, Shankarpura and Mohanpura.