THE SEX BAZAAR OF KAMATHIPURA

The grim reality is that every year over 10,000 Nepali girls are trafficked to various Indian brothels. Photo credit:feminisminindia.com, Outlook India

By LB Thapa

Almost a decade ago, I was commissioned by a reputed Kathmandu-based magazine to write an investigative story. The subject was how Nepalese girls are trafficked to Mumbai brothels. Modus oprendi of the agents, girl’s trafficking networking in India and Nepal, and the life of Nepalese sex workers in Kamathipura.

The editorial team of the magazine asked me if I was interested in covering the story. I immediately nodded my head in assertion. I had the confidence to accomplish the task successfully because I had the advantage of knowing India a bit. I was born and raised in India and I have already traveled to several parts of India.

 

Today when I am writing this additional piece of information, the face of old Kamathipura has completely been transformed. Mumbai police took the matter of Kamathipura sex workers seriously. Under many pretexts, Mumbai police came upon heavily the local sex workers and created every possible obstacle to discourage them for not taking up the flesh trade again. Many Kamathipura-based sex workers left Kamathipura and shifted elsewhere. Well, but when I had been to Kamathipura, a decade ago, things were different.

 

Now the present story is nothing more than a reminiscence. In this article, I want to tell you how actually I began my journey from Nepal to Kamathipura and what I encountered during my investigation. It was a risky task because the goons living inside Kamathipura never liked journalists visiting them. They did not want anything exposed to the world. They simply wanted to continue their sordid activities as clandestinely as possible. Because of this reason, many journalists who went to Kamathipura were not welcomed. They were brutally beaten up at the hands of madam’s goons. Not only this, but even some journalists also lost their lives during the investigation. Such was the notorious history Kamathipura held in the past.

 

If you are still interested to know how I started my investigation; what challenges I faced and what surprising things I came across during my undercover mission, then I am sure this article can entertain you a lot.  

 

BOARDING A TRAIN FROM GORAKHPUR TO MUMBAI

 
I was standing at the Gorakhpur railway station, waiting for Kushinagar Express. My destination was Mumbai. The city is famous for Bollywood cinemas, but it is also notorious for one of Asia's largest prostitution centers, Kamathipura.
 

I boarded the train and occupied my birth in the 2nd class AC compartment. After having spent several hours, lurching back and forth, eventually I found myself at the Mumbai Central Railway Station. This was my first visit to Mumbai in ten years. The last time I visited this city was in 2009. The city has not changed much since then. If there was any change then it was the crowd. The crowd was much thicker now than it was before.My stay in Mumbai was relatively comfortable. I stayed at my younger brother's official quarters. He is an army officer in the Indian Army. At dinner, I asked my brother to help me meet with some serious local journalists. I did not tell him my original purpose of visiting Mumbai. Before I visit Kamathipura, I wanted to collect as much information about the place as possible.
 
For many Nepalese people, the Red-light area of Kamathipura is a familiar name. Over the years, it has earned much notoriety for pushing innocent Nepalese girls into prostitution. It is believed that most of the trafficked Nepali girls are taken to Kamathipura, Mumbai, where they are brutally beaten and repeatedly raped until they agree to solicit customers. Their miseries do not end here as they are further trafficked to the Middle East and the Gulf nations. 
 

A BRIEF HISTORY OF KAMATHIPURA

 
A part of Kamathipura was developed by the British with the sole purpose of providing sexual services to their soldiers. Many European prostitutes some even from Japan were settled at Kamathipura. They entertained British soldiers and civilians for money.

When the British left India, Kamathipura was taken over by the Indian sex mafia. Today, Kamathipura has turned into a prostitution hub, where roughly 6000 odd sex workers are actively involved in the sex trade. However, only a decade ago the number of sex workers was much higher in Kamathipura alone.
 
Kamathipura has 14 lanes. Of which 7 lanes are brothels, where sex workers run their business on days and nights. Other lanes have simple houses, tea stalls, shops, etc. Sex workers are both brothel-based and street-based.
 

HOW BROTHELS WORK HERE

 
Some senior sex workers have also bought brothels while others have to pay a sum of their earnings to Madams. Most of the buildings are in dilapidated condition, which needs urgent repairing. However, only a few buildings are repaired, others are left unnoticed. Madams are the owners of brothels. They have direct control over all girls working under them.
 
Legally, they are not allowed to bring a minor girl into prostitution, but the reality is different here. Much worse than one can even think of. Money speaks here. Pay money and these Madams can make available a girl of any age for sexual gratification.
 
While walking through the Red-light area of Kamathipura, many girls who stood on both sides of the gully, tried to seduce men. These girls were of different colors and sizes. I wanted to meet Nepali girls who are well-established in Kamathipura.

While walking through the sleazy, narrow lane, I ignored their calls and sexual innuendoes. Meanwhile, one man approached me and said, "Sabji, what type of girl are you looking for? Don't be ashamed of telling me, I can find one that will meet your expectations?"
 
I calmed down his excitement and said, "If you really want to help me then tell me where to find Nepali girls". The man held my hand and took me to another lane…dark and damp.
 

MEETING WITH A NEPALI BROTHEL OWNER

 
The man left me at the door of a small room. It was a brothel, which was owned by a Nepali woman. I was about to knock at the door when a black and tall girl, who must be Bengali, appeared from nowhere and said, "Everyone is busy here right now. You can come to my brothel instead".
 
I simply said to her that I was looking for only a Nepali girl, not others. But she was quite adamant in her approach. She kept on insisting me on following her. Meanwhile, to my relief, the door was opened and a thin man be at his 40s came out exhausted. Throwing a confusing look at me, he grinned awkwardly, pulled up his trouser's fastener, and walked past singing a popular Hindi song.
 
Finally, the door was opened up and a woman with her Mongoloid face appeared at the door. She was a gentlewoman in her 50s. She asked me to come in and sit down on a plastic chair. She was Mukhi Tamang from the Dhading district of Nepal. She was the owner of the brothel. Mukhi was trafficked to Kamathipura when she even did not have her first period…she was merely 10 years old.

During my conversation with Mukhi, she told me that she would tell me everything that she knew so that no other Mukhi should be trafficked to Mumbai. Mukhi told me the harrowing stories of Kamathipura where life and death do not make any sense vis-à-vis money. Nepali girls trafficked to Kamathipura are compelled to live a life that is worse than hell.  
 
I asked Mukhi how she had been trafficked to Kamathipura at such an early age. Mukhi lifted her eyes which looked dry and soaked up. I could see her face did not carry any emotion or feelings. "We were poor but happy in our village, but one day everything changed.
 
“My father fell from a cliff and was bedridden for months. We spent all the cash and gold jewelry for the treatment of our father but to no avail. His condition did not improve and one day he was found motionless in his bed. He had consumed rat-killing poison to end his life.
 
“About that time, our elder uncle came from Mumbai on leave and took my elder sister with him. He had promised to find a job for her. After three months, she started sending money for about one year. Then she stopped sending money all of a sudden.
 
“When asked to our uncle he said that she eloped with a boy to an unknown place. Then my uncle took me to Mumbai. I stayed with him at his residence for two days then my uncle asked me to follow a woman in a taxi.

“I was taken to Kamathipura. I don't think I need to tell you after then what happened to me," said Mukhi Tamang. When I asked about her elder sister, she said that actually one day she was found dead in her bed.
 
"My sister was a brave girl. At least she dared to end her life, but I was not that courageous," said Mukhi, and for the first time, I saw her eyes welled up in tears. Perhaps her tears were a tribute to her beloved sister.
 
From Mukhi Tamang I came to know about the shocking reality of the darker world of sex slavery in Kamathipura. If more money is given to Madams, they make available as young as 10-year-old girls or even younger for sex.
 
Many minor girls are also sent outside Kamathipura to entertain influential clients, who never mind paying wads of money for minor girls. Due to the active involvement of many NGOs, INGOs, and constant police raids, nowadays Madams do not keep minor girls in brothels for a long time. Minor girls are brought from undisclosed locations to entertain special clients. After the purpose is met, those minor girls are taken away in a moment.
 
There are many pimps and agents who regularly lookout for potential clients. At the same time, they also look for every possible opportunity to traffic young girls. They have a very wide and strong network to traffic girls.

All kinds of people are involved in this network. Unfortunately, girls' trafficking has turned out to be a very lucrative business, where money comes thick and fast.   
 
Madams are in regular touch with their trusted agents who are spread across the country. Almost all Madams work with gangsters. These gangsters provide security and even don't hesitate to take a life if needed.
 
A newly trafficked girl is tortured and gang-raped several times till she gives in and begins entertaining the clients. There are many eyes to watch newly recruited girls lest they try to run away. In the beginning, girls implore every client to help them get out of hell, but the clients seldom dare to help them.
 
They do not want to annoy Madam's goons who are highly organized and determined to go to any extent. However, now and then some clients feel pity and inform the police, mostly without disclosing their identities.
 
Many times it happens when a girl who denies entertaining her clients is beaten so hard that either she commits suicide or succumbs to severe injury. Her body is duly disposed of unceremoniously and forgotten. No one in the brothels is allowed to talk about the matter again.
 
Sometimes drugs are given to new girls regularly. Madams are more concerned about their investment in each girl. For them, girls are merely commodities. All Madams try their best to make maximum money out of their girls' youthfulness.
 
Sex workers are automatically out of the business once they are caught with the deadly disease AIDS. However, many girls have been continuously performing their daily rituals even after knowing that they have been infected with HIV.
 
Due to a lack of an alternative source of income, many girls remain in the business of sex trade. It is believed that there are about 90 percent of Sex Workers at Kamathipura infected with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and about 70 percent are HIV positive. However, in recent times some NGOs and INGOs have initiated to work in this direction. But the success is far below than expected.
 
Most of the girls trafficked from Nepal and Bangladesh to Kamathipura are underage. The modus operandi of girls trafficking is easy to understand. Nepali agents in Mumbai walk around, meet with several Nepali folks, and ask them to bring minors and young girls from their respective villages.
 
They offer more money for minors than adults. The greed for money goads these people to lure minors and young girls from their villages and hand over them to these agents for money. These agents take the girls to Madams and get their part of the share.
 

THE FACE OF KAMATHIPURA IS CHANGING NOW

 
But today's Kamathipura has gotten sick and old. Owing to the active involvement of many NGOs, INGOs, and other organizations that actively support sex workers, sex racketeers face many difficulties in continuing their trade.
 
Meanwhile, what is seen that nowadays many young girls successfully run prostitution rackets from private apartments outside Kamathipura. They use mobile phones and the Internet to access their clients. Literarily speaking mobile phones and the internet have made prostitution possible from any corner of the city.
 
In recent years, the property value of Kamathipura and nearby areas has shot up by many times. As a result of this, the brothels are being bought by private builders and businessmen. This has pushed Kamathipura-based prostitutes to find cheaper places somewhere.
 
This is the reason why most of the brothels on 14 lanes are empty now. The rent of those brothels is out of the reach of many prostitutes. On top of the active participation of many organizations, human rights groups, and the active role of media, girl's trafficking has not been as easy as it used to be some years ago.
 
Even Mukhi Tamang has planned to shift to Navi Mumbai soon. With the money she has deposited in the bank, she wants to buy a flat in Navi Mumbai. According to Mukhi Tamang, many former prostitutes have started working in restaurants where life is more at ease and they can make more money than they would while soliciting.
 

A SURPRISE! MUKHI TAMANG’S DAUGHTER STUDIES IN DARJEELING

 
I was surprised when Mukhi said that she has a daughter who studies in Darjeeling. She showed me her beautiful daughter's photograph in school uniform. She studies in the eighth grade and lives in the hostel. Upon her request, I don’t mention her daughter's name or her school’s name.
 
"I don't know who the father of my daughter is, but this does not make any sense. She is my daughter and this is enough. I am glad that one of my relatives in Darjeeling has given his name to my daughter. For the world, he is the father of my daughter. I am grateful to him forever. I regularly send money to my daughter and I also visit her whenever I feel so," said Mukhi enthusiastically.
 
It is good to know that nowadays many organizations are working in Kamathipura. They have focused on different sectors mainly health, education, and rehabilitation of the Sex Workers. The Sanghamitra is being run by and for the sex workers of Kamathipura. It provides practical assistance to women in the sex trade as well as helping to rescue children and trafficked women from brothels.
 
In recent times, the charm of the sex trade in Kamathipura has taken a nosedive, but it is not out. A small part of Kamathipura is still alive and thriving. Only a collective effort from all sides can defeat girls' trafficking. Kamathipura can no longer exist if the supply of young girls is ceased.
 
To clamp down on trafficking, organizations one as Maiti Nepal must be strengthened with more power to tackle the situation. At the same time, the government must show true commitment to fight against girl trafficking. However, more development projects should be initiated in the rural parts of Nepal. Poverty, unemployment, and lack of education have pushed many parents to send their daughters to work in India where they end up in the flesh trade. Thus, unless and until poverty is eradicated from the remote areas of Nepal, the ghost of girl trafficking will never stop hunting our daughters. 

LB Thapa is the publisher and editor of The Hemingway Post, a literary magazine.

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